


Immortalia

by cosmobears



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Double Penetration, Eventual Romance, F/M, Interspecies, Interspecies Sex, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-04-25 06:32:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 39,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14372943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmobears/pseuds/cosmobears
Summary: What kind of harebrained scheme have you got in mind this time?Collection of my Guardians escapades in-universe. Typically featuring a Warlock who calls herself Bunny & her Ghost Hemlock, but sometimes it might feature my Titan or Hunter.Prone to mature & explicit themes.





	1. Mercenary

**Author's Note:**

> Zylkis is a suave space pirate type, but he's the calm and loving answer to how aggressive other Fallen seem to be. I count this as technically non-canon but who knows really.

She knew the rumors. Everyone did. The other side of the Reef was full of strange clubs and bars that serviced both Awoken and Eliksni, and anyone else that happened to wind up there, if they could stomach it. They’d cleared her to dock, and she stepped out of her ship, trying to appear calm, but she was on edge. “Not often we get a Guardian on this side of the Reef!” An Awoken man grinned at her as she watched her ship get taken up to a mechanical area not unlike the Tower’s hangar.

“Blame it on a Warlock’s curiosity.” Bunny said, hoping her smile projected a calm exterior. The man nodded, and told her to keep her weapons holstered if she knew what was good for her. Fortunately she did, so she thanked him, and went on her way, ascending through the dim violet darkness into the upper sectors, though they weren’t exactly high up when she thought about it. She paused, clasping her hands behind her back as she entered what appeared to be some sort of common square area, not unlike the Vestian Outpost, but far, far larger.

“Are you sure about this?” Her Ghost was at her side, hovering nervously. “There’s… a lot of them…” Bunny’s eyes went from her Ghost, to the crowds of people around, it wasn’t incorrect. Eliksni were just wandering around as though this was their home too— she supposed it was.

Bunny looked back at her Ghost, and poked it with a finger. “Are you really going to be nervous about it, Hemlock? It’s just like the Tower, but darker.” In truth, she was glad for the amount of Eliksni mulling about, talking in their language, and English, to Awoken who looked to be from all walks of life. “Let’s see…” Bunny went forward, finding a display panel that offered her a few options— including to view it in the Eliksni alphabet. Curious, she pressed that button on the screen, and grinned. “Do you think they might agree to let you copy this?” She asked her Ghost, who rolled its eye at her.

“Let’s not push our luck.” Hemlock replied, and returned to her armor. She examined the map of the sector she was in, glad that she could sort of blunder her way through their strange alphabet. There were two bars, one had an attached club, she assumed that was what she wanted, and went back to the main screen of the panel, and the lettering went back to the welcome message in both English and Eliksni.

Bunny made her way toward the bar she’d decided upon. She told herself it would be just fine, she was an adult, even if she was barely five feet tall, but the bouncers didn’t even question her, she was a Guardian first, that was apparently good enough. The music was loud enough to vibrate her lungs, but had been nearly entirely muted before she’d entered, with only the dull thumping of bass before the doors had opened. She wandered through the crowds, people were laughing and joking with one another, Eliksni and Awoken both, and she thought she could see a few other humans to. She still felt out of place.

She finally made it over the bar, and before she could even remotely begin to consider what she was going to do, a drink was set in front of her by a cheerful looking Awoken girl. “First time?” The girl asked, she nodded. “First drink’s free, don’t worry about ordering, we’ve only got a couple of things, and the other drink’ll kill ya!” Bunny stared at her, almost in disbelief, but a large Eliksni thumped the bar a few seats down from her, and she watched carefully as another bartender saw to his demands. The drink placed in front of him smoked vaguely.

“Right…” Bunny said, deciding to just accept the statement as fact. She nodded her thanks to the bartender, and collected her glass, looking at it suspiciously, but couldn’t come up with a reason why the bartenders would want her dead, people had been polite, if a bit distant to her on the Reef, Guardians— and humans especially— were still considered a bit strange. She went further into the club, descending to where she was certain the music was loud enough to shatter her glass, but fortunately that didn’t happen, and she found a spot to stand, watching two Awoken girls twirl around poles.

Bunny took a careful sip of the drink, she had never really bothered with alcohol, though some of the other Guardians often caused near-riots on the Tower with how much they drank. It was sweet, almost too sweet, but it lacked the alcoholic tinge most Earth liquor did, so it went down far easier. One of the dancers paused in her routine to gesture to someone in the crowd, someone who wasn’t dancing themselves, just staring at her, and she watched a vandal clad in Devils colors climb up onto the stage. Her eyes went wide as the Awoken dancer stripped her top, wrapping the thin fabric around the Eliksni’s neck, pulling him close to her near-nude body. Bunny felt her face flush.

The crowd that was watching ate it up, and the vandal was leaving scrapes on the girls legs, easily balancing her over his hips as she danced. Bunny swallowed a dry feeling in her throat, how easily Eliksni meshed into a more human society, meanwhile they were being slaughtered by Guardians elsewhere. She wondered if the vandal had come here on his own, but she could see a few more Eliksni cloaked in red banners, which told her it was unlikely. No doubt they were here to escape the wrath of people like her.

She sank back into the shadows, leaning on the wall of the raised bar area, trying to will the musics beat to force her thoughts to stop wandering to a very solid feeling of regret and fear that had settled in her stomach. “Afraid?” A rumbling voice next to her nearly caused her to jump out of her skin, and her reaction was followed by a laugh. She turned towards it, meeting just the chest of an Eliksni who was definitely a Captain, maybe even a higher rank. His eyes glowered down at her, and his lower arms were crossed over his chest, holding one of the strange smoking drinks in one of his upper hands. “Never been before?”

“I— no, this is the first time I’ve been here…” He nodded, and Bunny couldn’t hide her surprise that he could understand her. His gaze went back to the dancers, the other Awoken girl had beckoned forth another of the Devils Eliksni. Bunny tried not to look.

“This is common.” He said, gesturing with his free hand. “A club in Sector 28 has private rooms, I’m sure you can imagine…” The Captain’s gaze went back to her, and Bunny’s mouth opened in alarm, he laughed again. “Do not tell me you’re not curious, you wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“A-are you hitting on me?” Bunny couldn’t stop the words before they spilled from her mouth, and the Captain sneered, at least, she thought it was a sneer. “S-sorry! I— I’m only curious to see how the Awoken and Eliksni can share space…” The music changed to better suit the Awoken dancers and their new partners. The first had wrapped her top around her vandals face, effectively blinding him with the cups of the top, his upper hands were on her exposed breasts, and Bunny was quick to look away again, grateful that the club was dark.

The Captain was admiring the dancers, “They manage it somehow.” He said, “I’ve never thought to ask, it was enough for me to learn your words.” He downed his drink, and Bunny fidgeted with her glass. “There are not often members of Houses here, however…” He watched the Devils vandals get pushed into chairs that had replaced the poles, the topless girls tying their hands with their bikini tops. Bunny chanced to look, and watched as the dancers straddled the vandals, swinging their hips, their hands on the Eliksnis shoulders. Bunny could feel her heart pounding in her chest, torn between wanting to be that confident, and wanting to run away at full speed. “I wonder if their Captain brought them here.”

“I… I was wondering the same thing.” Bunny said, staring into her drink again, and taking another small sip before looking back up, trying to force herself to watch. “I can’t believe they’re just letting this…” She trailed off as the Awoken girls turned to face the crowd, and untied the bottoms of their bikinis. Her mouth opened in shock, and the Captain next to her roared in delight, setting his emptied glass aside so he could gesture as he cheered. With the bottoms off, the vandals struggled a bit, but they seemed quite pleased to stay mostly seated, the girls were far more overt in their dances now, bending over in front of the vandals, just in front of them to give them what was likely an excellent view of their bottoms. Bunny tried to sink further back into the shadows.

Next to her, the Captain replaced his finned helmet, it wasn’t marked with any colors she could see, but the fins and decorative horns on it were silvery white. “Do you not share the same anatomy as et-sha?” He asked, Bunny floundered, panicking slightly. She managed a nod, “Then there is nothing to be so horrified about, unless you are wondering if you could do something similar.” He gestured at the girls as they put one leg up on the laps of the vandals, high heels digging into their suits, leaning back as they used the tied up Eliksni as support. Bunny took a much larger sip of her drink, if only to avoid answering his questions, avoiding his gaze, and the display on the stage. “Ze-sha.” He said, prompting her to look up at him. “You are amongst those who share common fascinations.”

“Th-that’s not helpful.” She said, pouting at him. “I’m a Guardian, if I— if I did that, I’d get exiled.” She pointed at the Awoken dancers, who were now untying the vandals, and beckoning to what appeared to be their Captain, swathed in red as he was. His underlings rejoined the crowd around the stage as he climbed up, and they tied him with both of their tops to the chair, delicately drawing their pale and shimmering fingers along his chest.

“Mmn.” The Captain said, “At least these ones will die with pleasant memories.” Bunny jolted a bit, “What? Do not pretend like Guardians will not kill them. It is likely they are here specifically to release stress caused by you.” She frowned, and the Captain just chuckled at her, offering one of his upper hands. “I am Zylkis, Unbound.” She took his hand, giving it an awkward shake, but he seemed used to the gesture.

“Unbound?” She asked, and he nodded, leading her over to a couch that curved around another level of the floor. He leaned back, draping himself against the slightly raised back of the seat, as if he was as comfortable there, next to a Guardian, as he would have been anywhere else.

Zylkis nodded, still watching as the Awoken girls did their duet dance around the Devils Captain, one of them straddling his lap while the other had climbed up onto his shoulders, and was gracefully leaning back as a pole extended from the floor behind her so she could spread her legs, with just the Captain’s helmet to block her groin. “I have no House, I killed the Baron who would have leashed me, and left.” He said, watching as the girl on the pole pulled herself up with just her arms, displaying herself for the whole club. Bunny looked away, staring at the floor in front of her. “For it was him who showed me this place, and I decided I would prefer living as a mercenary to suffering on one of your planets, fearing for my life.” Bunny just nodded.

“I think you made the right choice.” She said, finally looking up at him, “Can we go somewhere less… um, loud? I’d like to talk to you more, but I feel like my head is about to cave in…” He snorted at her, but nodded, and gestured for her to finish her drink. She took a deep breath, and downed the remainder, making sure she didn’t think too hard about how it would look as she followed him out of the club. The dry feeling in her throat was back, but she just kept pace with Zylkis, who fortunately slowed enough so she wasn’t jogging to keep up with him. He lead her through the Reef, and up into an almost fancier part, but it was just an observation deck that looked out into the darkness of space.

“Suitable?” He asked, and she nodded. This time she was the one who lead him to a seat, sitting awkwardly next to the massive Eliksni. “Do you truly believe it was the right choice?” He asked, leaning down to look at her, but Bunny felt a bit more confident without the view of two nude Awoken girls dancing around a Captain. She could see now that Zylkis was clad in a deep shade of purple, almost black.

“I do, because I don’t want to see Eliksni suffer either, but I’m just one Guardian, and… I can’t kill the people who ‘leash’ me to change things.” She said, causing Zylkis to laugh. “I’ve never met an Eliksni who wasn’t associated with a House, though, it’s… it’s interesting, I have so many questions I want to ask, but I wouldn’t want to ruin your evening any further.” Zylkis just shook his head, shifting so his lower hand planted itself on the bench next to her thigh on the opposite side, his upper hand came to rest on her shoulder. Bunny’s breath caught in her throat.

“Sweet little thing like you believes she can ruin my evening by pestering me with questions,” He was purring, and Bunny felt her cheeks flush hotly, “She hasn’t even told me her name, and yet wants to interrogate me…” Another one of his hands came up to tilt her chin up gently, and Bunny floundered, making a few indistinct noises at him.

“It— m-my name is Bunny.” She said, feeling like she was being held captive, although Zylkis had not been clutching her, he had simply placed his hands on her. “Does that mean I can ask—” He nodded, and released her chin, but kept his hands next to her and on her shoulder. Bunny thought for a moment, “What’s it like to be a mercenary?” He tilted his head at her, and she expounded on the question, “Like… um, what are the differences between how you live now and how you lived before as a member of a House?”

Zylkis shifted, the hand next to her thigh twitched, “I do not have as large of a crew, only six not including myself, before it was twenty. We have less ether, but equally do not need as much, because we can come here.” He gestured at the Reef around them, “The drinks they serve to us are liquid ether.” Bunny blinked.

“So… will that actually kill me if I drink it?” Zylkis laughed, and it echoed in the observation deck.

He shook his head, “It is unlikely, though it would make you very sick, you are a Guardian, if it did kill you, wouldn’t you just come back?” She had conveniently forgotten about that, and made a face, pouting a bit.

Zylkis laughed at her again, patting her shoulder. “You’re right…” She said, and thought for a moment, staring out into the darkness beyond the glass dome they were sitting under. “If the Traveler woke up… do you think Eliksni and… I guess humanity as a whole… do you think we could live together?” She looked up at him as she asked the question, and Zylkis regarded her with a curious but serious expression beneath his helmet. He reached up, and took it off once more, setting it next to him on the bench, then leaned down close to Bunny’s face, his jaws clicking as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Are you hitting on me?” He purred, and Bunny felt her face go scarlet, she hadn’t realized how her question had sounded, and made a few weak attempts to walk it back, but he hushed her, and lifted her chin again. Bunny panicked, her eyes wide, but Zylkis pressed his mouth against hers, initiating a strange kiss. There was a brief moment where she absolutely hated him, she’d played right into his hands— somewhat literally too, but the moment ended as his tongue pushed against hers, he tasted like ether. Zylkis pulled her into his side, and then onto his lap, forcing her to straddle him, but Bunny’s armor would take some effort to remove, so his hands just found their ways to her thighs and her back. “If only you had meant it literally…” He said, and Bunny frowned at him.

She could already feel Hemlock preparing to lecture her, “I— I guess I wouldn’t be opposed to that.” She mumbled. Zylkis kissed her again, his hands figuring out how her armor closed, and promptly undoing it, but he didn’t pull it from her body, only shifting it aside so he could pull on the suit beneath it. Bunny’s hands gripped his cloak, squeaking in surprise as she felt cold air on her neck.

Zylkis’ mouth moved to her neck, pressing into the skin, but not biting or kissing there. “You have no more questions?” He asked, his voice rumbling through her. Bunny shook her head, her heart was pounding again, and she was certain he could feel her pulse. He made a pleased noise, confirming that he could, “You have nothing to fear from me, Bunny.” Zylkis purred, “I will stop if you wish.” Once again, she shook her head, and Zylkis wrapped his arms around her, holding her protectively.

Now he kissed her neck, up to her jaw, and then her mouth once more. Bunny made a few small noises, and squirmed, but Zylkis seemed to understand the squeaked out sounds, and stood, carrying her on his right side, while his left hands replaced his helmet temporarily. She felt a bit like a child, “You know,” She said, huffing a bit, “I can walk.” Zylkis looked at her, and simply adjusted her in his arms, easily able to support her small weight in just two of his four arms.

His skiff was docked in a different section than her ship was, and she studied it curiously as he carried her up to it, hitting a button on a panel beneath it to initiate a transmat for them both. She shivered, still not used to the way the world turned cold when it happened. Zylkis set her down inside of his skiff, “Now you may walk.” He said, almost teasingly. She crossed her arms, cocking her hip, and he laughed. His hands came to rest on her hips as he crouched in front of her, “Will you insult me if I say I was enjoying holding you?” Bunny made a face at him, and her cheeks went red.

Taking that as a no, he lead her through the skiff, it was somewhat smaller than the skiffs she was used to seeing, but it wasn’t cramped. She could hear some muffled conversation as they passed one closed door, but Zylkis walked right by, not caring if his small skeleton crew found out he’d brought a human back with him. His quarters were spacious for how small the ship was, the platform against the wall opposite from the door was wide, and messily covered in furs and blankets. He shed his armor, tossing it to the floor. Bunny shuffled awkwardly, but he wouldn’t have it, and pulled her along with him as he sat on his strange bed, finishing the job of stripping her armor.

Bunny felt extremely plain standing in front of him, his carapace was shiny and black, and the skin beneath was a deep shade of wine, and she just looked like death, translucently pale skin, with silvery scars on her chest, dull black hair. Zylkis had a strange crest of what looked like hair, but was far fluffier than her hair. He rumbled at her, hands sliding down her sides as he studied her body. “You are beautiful.” He said, and Bunny squawked.

“Wh— oh— I-I’m not, I—” He silenced her with a look, and tugged her closer, his lower hands on her rear, squeezing the flesh. “R-really, I—”

“More beautiful than the dancers.” He said, and one of his hands found the scars on her chest. Bunny watched him closely, she remembered what had given her those scars, it was her most vivid memory from before her first death. Four-armed monsters wielding cannons that could shoot fire and molten metal. “This is…”

Bunny nodded, confirming his unvoiced thought. Shrapnel launcher, he would have recognized the shape of the scars anywhere, and Zylkis drew back from her slightly. “It’s okay,” She said quietly, “It’s from before…” She wouldn’t tell him that she could remember where she’d gotten them, “Before I was a Guardian, I mean.” He looked at her, concerned, but she smiled, and that seemed to calm him. He pulled her down onto his bed, pinning her beneath him. He loomed over her, and sank his teeth into her shoulder until he tasted blood. Bunny moaned in surprise, squirming, and when Zylkis pulled away, he licked her blood from his teeth, pleased with himself.

Zylkis’ hands went between her thighs, fingers carefully pushing into her. Bunny felt another wave of panic, she had never felt so vulnerable, and she had neglected to mention that she wasn’t exactly experienced with sex, nevermind sex with an alien, but he seemed content to lead, not minding in the least that she was floundering under him, her hands gripping his shoulders as he fingered her. Zylkis reached up with his lower hand, taking one of hers, “I’ll be gentle.” He said.

“I— y-you don’t have to be…” She pulled herself up a bit, glad that he was as strong as he looked. He looked at her quizzically, and Bunny felt a bit smug, “I’m a Guardian, remember?” Zylkis snorted at her, pushing her down, and pulling her hips up onto his legs, his fingers going back to her groin, brushing one against her clit as he searched further down, and pushed one slick finger into her ass. Bunny gasped, but he kept his promise, and was gentle with her as two of his hands worked in both of her holes. “Nnh…”

“You have never been mated by Eliksni.” Zylkis rumbled, and the look on Bunny’s face, somewhere between alarm and wanting more of his hands all over her told him he was correct, “Far be it from me to pass up a chance to… break a Guardian…” He was leaning over her again, so much taller than she was, it was easy for him. Bunny’s breath caught in her throat again, she wasn’t scared of him, but she wasn’t sure what he meant by break.

Though it swiftly became apparent, he lowered her back onto his bed, and Bunny got an excellent view of two ridged cocks protruding from his groin, some of his slightly softer carapace having opened to reveal them, “O-oh my God.” She said. Zylkis couldn’t help but laugh, her inexperience clearly proving very amusing for him. Bunny looked up at him, half upset that he’d laugh at her, and half curious, “Th-those aren’t going to fit.” She wasn’t sure she’d even be able to fit one inside of her, let alone two as he seemed to be planning, but Zylkis clicked his jaws at her, and leaned down to place strange, alien kisses on her collarbones.

“They will, you are not the first human I have mated with, though you are a fair bit smaller…” He considered her, but shrugged eventually, “You are far more elastic than Eliksni.” She wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that, but her curiosity won out in the end, and she sat up, one of her hands reaching out to touch him, “Mmn, you like to use your mouths, I forget.” He shifted, sitting back. Bunny looked confused for a moment, almost moving to ask what he meant, but the meaning dawned on her, and she jerked her hand back.

“I-I’ve nnh—” He tilted his head at her, and she steeled herself, if he wanted her mouth, she could use her mouth. At least, that’s what she was telling herself. Zylkis settled down, just as casual and comfortable as he’d been before, and Bunny leaned over him. Fortunately he let her decide what to do, not making any suggestions or guiding her to do anything, perhaps curious to see what the panicky human girl would do. 

Bunny was trying and failing to settle her nerves, but determined not to disappoint the Eliksni, and very carefully placed her mouth on the tip of one of his cocks, the lower one, while one of her hands gently stroked the upper one. She knew enough about what she was doing, she’d listened to other Guardians describing their sexual escapades at full volume, but putting everything she’d heard into practice was another beast entirely. Bunny’s tongue licked curiously, he tasted strange, though not unpleasant.

One of his hands settled in her hair, twirling locks of it around his fingers, still not guiding her as she sucked him off, but pleased with what she was doing nonetheless, even if she was clearly struggling. Bunny managed not to gag as she reached the fused base, and swallowed around him in surprise. She was immediately rewarded with a grunt, and the feeling of Zylkis pulling lightly on her hair. She pulled her mouth up and off his lower cock, finding that there was a strange, tingling feeling left behind. Now for the upper one, bolstered by the way Zylkis had reacted, she was a lot more eager, and less exploratory, very carefully bobbing her head up and down the length of the upper cock.

Zylkis made a hissing noise, pulling her hair again, doing his best not to buck his hips up and potentially gag her, but Bunny wouldn’t be denied. Her tongue flicked teasingly on the vaguely pointed head of his cock, and she gently pushed both together so she could place her mouth around them at the same time, sucking hungrily on the tips. He pulled her up by her hair, looking pleased, but said nothing to her, and just pushed her over onto her front, pulling her hips up so he could grind himself against her. Bunny wiped her mouth, her entire head felt strange now, and the strange tingling feeling was spreading down through her neck and into her chest, only to get a head start in her torso as he pushed his cocks into her, slow and gentle like he’d said he’d be. She moaned lewdly as he gently rocked his hips against hers, even being as careful as he was, he still overwhelmed her, stuffing her ass and her pussy with his cocks.

He hilted inside of her after a few moments, leaning down over her to hold her close against his torso. Bunny whimpered, “I told you they would fit.” He said, taunting her as he rolled his hips against hers, making her mewl out, “Mmn, but it is a tight fit…” Zylkis purred, and bit down on her other shoulder, not as hard as he had the first time, but still hard enough to leave marks with his sharp teeth. Bunny moaned, pushing her hips up against his. He took her wrists, and held her down, starting slow as he thrust into her, allowing her some small amount of time to get used to how he felt inside of her.

Eventually he was rutting into her, holding her hips up while he pinned her down by her arms, listening to her mewl and whimper for him to fuck her harder. Zylkis dug his claws into her hips, dragging them along her pale skin to leave angry red marks, releasing her wrists so he could claw up her back. He gripped her hair, pulling Bunny up onto her knees, and bit the back of her neck, growling as she squirmed in his grip. “Aah— Zylkis…!” He felt her body twitch as she came, her body squeezing down on him, he rumbled, pleased with how it felt. She was tight and wet, and Zylkis’ cocks slid in and out of her easily now, as if her body was molding itself to fit him and his needs.

He pushed her down again, fucking her into his bed, his mouth pressed into her skin, inhaling her scent. Bunny giggled brainlessly, the rational sliver of thought left in her mind told her that she was going to get in trouble if anyone found out she had been sleeping with Eliksni, but the rest of her mind drowned it out with desire. Zylkis bit her again, marking her with his mouth and hands to the point where it would be difficult for her to hide the bites. She didn’t care, blindly reaching for one of his hands. Zylkis took her hand, squeezing it, groaning as Bunny came again, shuddering under him. “You are mine.” He grunted, thrusting hard into her, earning a few breathless squeaks from the Guardian as he wrapped another of his hands around her throat, and pinned her beneath him, filling her with his seed. She made a few choked noises, and Zylkis released her, rolling so he was on his back, and she was on top of him.

He carefully pulled himself out, gray-blue cum leaking from within the tiny Guardian. She squirmed so she could lay on her stomach on top of him, wrapping her arms around his neck, snuggling into his chest. Zylkis rubbed her back, feeling a slight tinge of regret. She would go back to the Tower on Earth, and he’d stay here, scraping by, and she might never come back to him, either by her own choice, or because those in control of her would find out what she had done. Bunny was sucking wind, and he could feel her heartbeat through her back, but another brainless sounding giggle escaped her as she found her strength, pushing herself up to look at him. “Th-that was…” She smiled at him, her soft fingers tracing some of the carapace on his head. Zylkis took her hand and kissed her palm, closing his eyes. “… Zylkis?” He opened two of his eyes, disappointed that she could see through him so easily.

Zylkis blamed it on the Light contained within her. “I am fine, Bunny,” He said, “However it occurs to me that you may never return here, and for all of the marks I have left on your body… that will not be enough to bring you back if you choose to stay away.” She sighed, laying back down on top of him, drawing little circles on his collarbone, gently brushing her finger along the edge of the carapace on his chest.

“I’ll come back.” She said quietly, but she sounded sad too. The statement was incomplete, but Zylkis only felt her shift on top of him, as if struggling to find her words. He was silent, holding her protectively while she floundered. “I don’t care… if… if I get in trouble for wanting to spend time with you… It’s nice not being shot at.” She said, and Zylkis snorted. He could agree with that.

“Indeed.” He said, and pulled her up gently by her armpits to kiss her face, “But I would not see you banished from your home just because of me, so be careful.” She made a face at him, scrunching up her nose. “I’m serious.”

Bunny wiggled, and settled back in her previous position, snuggled up against him. “I will, I promise… Maybe I can ask you the rest of those questions later…” She said, her voice turning into a mumble as she spoke, and Zylkis made a noise of agreement, allowing her to make herself comfortable on top of him before he pulled the furs and blankets around her. He stared at his ceiling, listening to her breathe, debating whether or not to tell her when she woke up what the marks on her shoulders and neck meant.

He decided he wouldn’t, unless she asked.


	2. Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caves are very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. No exceptions whatsoever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike chapter 1 I guess this is more canon? Kinda.

Bunny crawled through the wall, dusting herself off as she pulled herself up on the other side of it. She looked around, nowhere to go but forward, weaving through ancient, rusted cars, beneath twisted roots covered in thorns and strange glowing fungus. Her Ghost floated next to her, looking around as its Guardian picked her way through. Soon the road turned into a tunnel, and a collapse ahead of them forced her to drop down into a cave. “Let me know when you’ve—” Hawthorne’s voice was cut off by static, and the signal went dead, even as her Ghost tried to reconnect. She frowned, that was always a good sign, and even better without her Light.

“We could turn around… Maybe look for some help…” Her Ghost said, casting its flashlight into the cave. They could hear water running.

“No.” Bunny shook her head, and went forward, “We came this far, Hemlock, we can do this, it’ll be fine.” She said, being very careful as she walked though the cave. Pebbles and small rocks got kicked as she went, bouncing off the sloped ground. She had to admit, it was a bit eerie to be in a pitch black cave with only her breathing, rocks and running water to remind her she wasn’t dead yet. Yet.

They reached a cavern, and her Hemlock flicked off its light. She was about to climb down into the bottom of it, when another sound joined the rest. Breathing, rocks, water, and metal scraping on rocks. “Did you hear something?” Hemlock asked, fluttering closer to its Guardian. Multiple sets of glowing blue eyes looked at her from dark corners. Bunny swallowed a dry feeling in her throat, rumbling noises, hushed voices, she dropped down into the cave, landing with a quiet splash in ankle deep water.

She took a few steps forward, and they descended, cloaked in violet. Bunny shot the first one dead as easily as if she was breathing, but the rest came at her en masse, circling her with swords in their upper hands. One lashed out, and caught her in the arm, she skipped back, firing wildly, just praying she would survive the onslaught. Two dead, she could do this. Another of the marauders lunged for her, its swords slicing through her already shredded armor. Bunny yelped, ripping off the loose pieces so they couldn’t be used against her.

Three dead, by nothing short of luck as the third fell. She picked up one of the swords, and parried a fourth, but the fifth marauder caught her in the back and knocked the wind from her lungs. She hit the ground, and rolled through the water, catching another of the swords in her hand. The blade cut through her suit and into her skin. ‘Is this necessary?’ A much deeper, growling voice echoed in the chamber, and the two remaining marauders looked up. ‘Playing with them.’ The voice said, and she heard a much larger shape moving down through the darkness.

Bunny tried to sit up, but the marauders kept her pinned to the floor. ‘Is it so bad when they keep coming here to kill us?’ The one whose sword she was holding spoke up, pulling the blade from her hand. She winced, and finally managed to push herself up a bit, only to spot a Captain, dangerously graceful as he walked down into the water. ‘They dance when they kill us! We should be able to have fun.’

The Captain fixed his eyes on Bunny, and she was quick to look away, making sure to tilt her helmeted face in such a way that it would be more obvious. Breathing, water, the sound of Fallen hovering over her, her own heartbeat in her ears. She tried to fixate on something else, draw the panic back into her gut and swallow it down. ‘A waste of strength.’ The Captain said, and reached down, pulling Bunny up by her helmet, which promptly popped off with a hiss, and dropped her unceremoniously to the ground with a splash.

He tossed her helmet to the ground and crushed it beneath his foot. She was up on her feet as fast as she could manage, staring up at him with her eyes wide. The Captain reached for a sword from his belt, and Bunny sucked in a breath, her hand hurt, so did her back. The blade crackled to life in front of her. She prayed to whatever Light was left that she still had her reflexes, and lunged away from the blade as the Captain swiped at her. He caught her ankle, but otherwise missed, and she went tumbling into the water a few feet away from them. She forgot how to use her words, only able to make a few indistinct sounds.

The remaining two marauders hopped up onto ledges to watch their Captain take care of the intruding Guardian, making a few comments about how she was quick, but would probably tire out before he did. She shot them a look, and they exchanged glances, the Captain caught the movement, and tilted his head at her, ‘You understand us?’ She nodded, her voice still refusing to work. Whether he was pleased by that answer or not, he didn’t back down, coming at her again with his sword. This time she wasn’t quick enough, and he grabbed her by her hair in one hand, and by the throat in another, holding the blade at her throat. ‘She understands but does not speak… Did the Great Machine rob you of your tongue when it gave you the Light, thief?’

Bunny squeaked out, kicking her legs, only to have another one of his hands on her ankles. She grabbed his arms and held on for dear life. ‘N-no!’ She managed to gasp, and he shifted the sword from her throat to her stomach, her mind was racing, she had to find some way to make him stop. ‘I-if you kill me, yo-you’ll only invite more Guardians here— a-and—’ The hand on her neck squeezed, and she coughed, wheezing for breath as he backed her up and slammed her into a stalagmite. She coughed again, and tasted blood.

‘And we will kill each of them in turn.’ The Captain said. Bunny kicked some more, trying to free her ankles from his hand, and managed to get one free. Her foot connected with his torso, but he hardly flinched. She heard what she thought was a scoff, and he dropped her, his knee meeting her as she fell. Winded again, she hit the ground, and the Captain kicked her chest, sending her tumbling into another stalagmite. ‘Worthless.’ He grunted, and pulled a second sword from his belt.

The marauders shared another look, wasn’t he playing with her now? They stayed silent, just watching curiously, amazed that the Guardian was hauling herself up onto her feet again. ‘I’m not worthless.’ She gasped out, though it was hard to tell if she was directing it at the Captain or not, he swung his blades at her, and she caught one on her arm, feeling the blade cut through her gloves, then the suit, then her skin. She winced, and tried to grab for the sword, but they must have done some damage to her back, because the world started to go black. She hit her knees, and spit blood again, “No, no no no no!” But her breathless cries were no help, and she collapsed, face first in the water.

Surprised, the Captain’s eyes went wide. He nudged her over with his foot, preventing her from drowning, though it was close, the water came up around her face. ‘What now?’ One of the marauders asked, jumping down to look at the body. ‘Is it dead?’ The other one joined the first, and they grabbed Bunny’s arms, but they were limp. The first marauder dropped his chosen limb into the water. Above him, the Captain grumbled wordlessly and picked the Guardian up, ascending through the cave, and then onto his skiff. The survivors followed, confused. ‘You’re going to keep it?’

He was swiftly silenced with a glare, and the Captain left the Guardian in the hands of their medics.


	3. Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is why you avoid caves, you get kidnapped and then turned into the evenings entertainment!
> 
> Continuation from Cave.

Bunny woke up suddenly, almost violently, sitting up in the dark as though she’d fallen out of bed. The last thing she remembered was… Fallen, cold water and arc swords at her neck. Everything was still black, was she dead? She reached up to feel her face, and felt the distinct pull of bandages— wait, bandages? She groped around, hoping to find her Ghost. “… Hemlock?” She chanced to squeak out, but there was no reply. She crawled around, supporting herself on a tender hand, but it hurt less than her other arm. The floor was cold metal, but the air was warm, and she could smell something… Ether?

Her stomach dropped, they’d kidnapped her, for what purpose she had no idea, but she probably wouldn’t live to see much more. She crawled back to the platform she’d been on, and pulled the furs up around her once more. Bunny hugged herself, and cried. She hadn’t cried in years, not since she’d had nightmares of the first time she’d had to fight a Fallen Archon, the only one she’d ever fought, and she hadn’t even been the one to kill him, she’d run away out of fear. She wondered if Riksis was laughing at her, the same way he’d laughed in her face as she trembled, dropped her rifle and ran away from him.

Bunny nodded off eventually, curled up in a ball, wrapped up as tightly as she could manage in the furs, and the next time she awoke, she was being jostled. Four glowing eyes were in her face, and she screamed, trying to hit whoever was waking her. ‘Stop that.’ A voice said, she didn’t recognize it, which was enough to get her to stop flailing. ‘Here.’ A small plate was shoved into her hands. There was enough light in her cell now to see that it was entirely bare except for her bed, and the plate had food on it.

She wasn’t given a chance to argue, or to ask where her Ghost was. The door shut, leaving her in the darkness again. Bunny picked at the plate of food, but it didn’t seem like it had been tainted, it just tasted like bland meat. Halfway through her meal, the door opened once more, and the Captain stood in the doorway, glowering at her. She choked on her bite of food, she had to say something, but the panic set in again, and her mouth clamped shut. He said nothing, and tossed something at her, it hit the wall behind her with a plastic sounding thud, and that was it. She sat stock still for a whole minute once he’d departed, and then reached out, feeling around in the dark until she found a familiar shape. “… Hemlock!?” She pulled her Ghost to her, and picked it up, tapping gently on its damaged shell, “Hemlock, are—” The eye in its core flickered to life. “Oh, thank God.” She breathed, sinking into her bed a bit more.

“Guardian?” It asked, as though they were trying to find one another in the burning City once again, but it registered her face in the dark, and floated up a bit to cast some light on her, “I tried to reason with them, but they kept trying to take me apart!” It whined.

“Well…” Bunny was still nibbling on her food, “They didn’t succeed… so that’s good.” She wasn’t sure what she could do besides state the obvious, which sort of took part of her Ghosts job away, but the unamused rippled of its shell told her it was no worse for wear, and she managed to quirk half a smile at it. “What should we do? All we’ve got is four years worth of learning their language to get us out of this alive.”

Hemlock twirled its shell, thinking. “They didn’t say anything about wanting to kill you, at least, as far as I could tell before I decided to shut off.” It said, that was a start, “So I guess we have all the time in the world, assuming they don’t change their minds… That Captain almost listened to me, but he’s got some advisers that could be a problem.” Bunny nodded, munching on the last of her food, she set the plate aside.

“So… let’s see…” Bunny stretched her legs out finally, feeling a bit more confident with Hemlock back in her possession. “I just need to get close to the Captain.” She got to her feet, pacing while Hemlock followed her with its light. “How am I gonna do that when they’ve got me locked up in here, though?” She felt along the wall until Hemlock realized what she was doing, and they found the door. Hemlock tried to force it open, but it wouldn’t budge, and Bunny’s ankle started to sting as she stood, so she balanced on her other foot, holding herself up with the wall. “That’s out…” She mumbled, and hopped back over to her bed, sitting down again.

Hemlock floated down to settle in her lap, turning its flashlight off. “They’ll have to come back eventually, you could run out of the room, but that’d probably just get you shot…” Bunny snorted, tapping one finger lightly on her Ghosts shell. “Wow, we really do have to talk our way out of this, huh.” She couldn’t help but laugh, there was something almost hilarious about her situation, going from one of the more stubborn and Hunter-like Warlocks to having to rely on her very much Warlock-like curiosity to save her life. The laugh turned bitter as she remembered just punching her way out of situations like this not even a year ago.

She paced in the dark for a while longer, until her ankle started to hurt again, and then sat. Eventually sleep claimed her again, this time holding Hemlock close to her in her sleep. She didn’t hear anyone come in to retrieve the plate, and didn’t wake up when the medics came to check on the bandages around her arm and chest.

The next time she woke up, though, her armor had been stripped, and Hemlock was floating around looking concerned for a faceless robot. “They came in to change your bandages, but… it can’t have been that long yet, can it? Maybe I was so panicked about you dying I forgot to keep track…” Hemlock beeped at her, and Bunny gingerly touched the bandages around her middle, they had been there before, she’d felt them constricting her breathing a bit, so whoever had wrapped her up, had already seen her naked, probably. She blushed despite herself, there was nothing lascivious about it, but somehow it was still embarrassing. “They took your armor.” Hemlock added.

“Oh.” She said, that was just great. “Well… I guess it doesn’t matter…” Hemlock was her shield, not her armor, as long as the little Ghost was still around and in one piece, she’d be alright, maybe. Bunny pulled the furs up around her again, and wondered what to do, they hadn’t brought any food yet, presumably, and if Hemlock didn’t know what time or day it was, that wasn’t a great sign.

She didn’t say much else, watching the faint blue light of Hemlock’s eye float around in the darkness, and yawned. Hemlock prattled on about anything it could think of, primarily for its own benefit, Bunny was taking their kidnapping a lot better than her Ghost was, but it had always been prone to panicking about things.

The door slid open, and a couple of vandals stepped into the room, allowing faint lights in the ceiling to be turned on somewhere outside. Bunny looked up, one had food, and the other had… what looked like a measuring tape. They pulled her up, and the one carrying the food handed it to her and left. The second one manhandled her silently, examining her body. Embarrassed again, she tried to just focus on her meal, more meat, the same bland, generic taste as before, but food was food. ‘Hmm.’ The vandal said, looking at her hands as she ate. She shifted awkwardly, but they said nothing more to her, and left. The lights remained on. Hemlock floated towards the door, and looked at her.

“You didn’t say anything!” It said, Bunny shrugged.

“As if they could do anything, if the Captain comes back, I’ll say something then.” She said, setting the plate down as she finished the food.

“That could take… who knows! We could be stuck here forever!” Hemlock floated back towards her accusingly, and then sank to bump into her bare legs. She patted it idly.  
“They’re feeding me, and I guess I just got measured for something… So they’re planning something.” She said, “As long as I don’t do anything stupid, even his friends who don’t like me being here won’t have much to do to get him to kill me.” At least, that’s what she was hoping for, a best case scenario.

Hemlock didn’t dignify her with a proper response, just grumbling to itself. With the lights on in her cell, Bunny took to counting the panels of metal, and once she counted all of them, forty with the exceptions of the ones she couldn’t see due to them likely being under her bed, which appeared to be welded to the floor, she sighed, got to her feet, and walked in a circle, skipping every second floor panel, then every third, then walking normally. Hemlock told her a few hours had passed when she finally sat down again, rubbing her ankle a bit. While it was clear no serious damage had been done, it still hurt to move.

The vandal who had measured and manhandled her returned another few hours later, and dumped armor onto the floor next to her bed, glaring at her as they left. “… Uh.” It was her armor, and it had been repaired for the most part, but she guessed they had needed to know just how large— or more accurately, how small she was, before they could do anything to fix it. “What a pleasant surprise.” She said, and pulled it on, finding it fit just as well as it had before, well before. 

“This doesn’t seem suspicious to you?” Hemlock asked as she affixed her bond to her arm, they hadn’t fixed the flickering hologram, but had replaced it with a simple metal carving of the same thing instead, it was nice. “I mean, why would they give you back all of your armor… They could just have given back the suit and achieved the same thing if they just wanted you to have something to wear.”

Bunny shrugged, she liked her armor. “I feel better with all of it, maybe they realized that or something, I don’t really care.” Whatever the reasoning, she was fine with their decision. “And—”

The door opened again, and the Captain stood in front of it once more, Bunny’s words caught in her throat. ‘Up.’ He demanded, and she complied, scrambling to her feet. He stepped into the cell, and the door shut behind her. Every nerve in her body was screaming that this was bad, but she managed to keep her expression neutral.

Bunny opened her mouth, this was her best chance. ‘C-Captain,’ She started, looking up at him, and then at his feet, she was beneath him, she had to be deferential. ‘May I ask a question?’ He crossed all four of his arms across his chest, a low growl escaping him.

‘… Very well.’ He said, and Bunny chanced to look up once more. He was glaring at her, but waited patiently for her to find her words once more.

‘Why did you bring me here and bandage me up?’ She wanted to ask a lot more than that, but she’d asked for permission for just one question, so she kept it simple and short, she hoped. He growled again, and she clasped her hands in front of herself, lacing her fingers together, silent, fighting her natural desire to rapid fire ask questions.

He didn’t respond, instead, just grabbed her chin, and made her look at him. She squeaked a panicked noise, and flapped her arms weakly. Still he didn’t say a thing to her, dragging her to the door, and throwing her out of the cell. The same two marauders collected her, and made her march through the skiff. The Captain followed them, and she was taken from the ship, to a clearing in the forest, but the Shard was nowhere near them, she caught a glimpse of it in the distance before they shoved her to her knees, and that was when she realized she was in what was essentially an arena. Other crews with their Captains were lounging around, all draped in the dusty violet banners that her captors wore. They jeered at her, a Guardian without the Light, a Guardian captured, she was a spectacle. ‘I can’t believe that idiot decided to keep it.’ One of the nearby Captains rumbled a laugh as her Captain joined them.

‘He’s damn lucky it didn’t just kill all of them— well, I guess we have the advantage if they don’t have the Light…’ Another said. Bunny frowned, they were going to make her fight for their entertainment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might be a slow burn romance in the works... Hohoho.


	4. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gratuitous violence! Noble savages! Beheading of a real asshole Captain! This chapter truly has it all. As well as more potential for a slow burn romance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point on until otherwise specified, the conversations are all in the Eliksni language for convenience and your enjoyment. Continuing from Cave & Dance.

“This is the one you chose?” A much larger Captain asked hers, and Bunny looked up, he had to be at least eight feet tall, probably a Baron before everything came apart at the seams.

“I didn’t choose her.” Her Captain said, he was clearly one of the lower ranked ones now that she was looking around, they didn’t seem to care to try and keep her from disrespectfully staring at everyone else. She wondered if Hemlock could get Hawthorne on the radio now, but didn’t bother to mention it. Her Ghost was safely wrapped up in her robes. “She chose this.” He gestured vaguely, and Bunny shifted, looking at her Captain quizzically, he was lying to them? She kept her mouth shut, knowing far better than to make it any more complicated. The other Captains laughed at him, and she saw him clench his lower hands into fists. “You’re the ones that made the deal with me.” He snapped. “I get the servitor if she wins against your crews.”

Wait, what? Why didn’t he just pledge one of his own crew members to fight instead? She looked around again, they hadn’t caught on that she could understand them. The Captain who had sneered at them both spoke up again, “What makes you think we’re just going to let you have it, regardless of what this bitch can do?” Bunny struggled not to make a face, she had never heard them curse like that before.

Her Captain growled, “Nylvosk, you two-timing—”

“Silence.” The former Baron barked, “Arm the girl.” The marauders who had been acting as her jailers pulled her up again, and shoved a few guns at her, a rifle, a pistol, and a dagger. She floundered a bit, but got them sorted out, and stood between them, hoping she looked dangerous, or at least determined. “And what do we get if she fails?” The Baron asked, he was seated on a makeshift throne, Bunny hated him already. “Obviously she dies, but… You will owe us, Maliks, for this idiotic contest of brawn.”

Maliks, so that was his name. She cast a glance back at him, he looked like he was about to run the Baron down and slit his throat, but he stayed still, almost too still. “Half my crew.” He said, and a few of the gathered Eliksni behind her protested, but he waved one of his hands dismissively. “You’d be a fool to ask for more, Salzen.” Salzen leaned forward on his knees, upper hands lacing together as he balanced his elbows on his legs.

“That will not be enough. Your crew, the girl, your cannon. That is suitable.” The other Captains all agreed. Bunny counted four of them, one of the two nearest to her group was named Nylvosk, and the rest were unknown. She steeled her nerves, she could do this, she had to do this, not only for herself, but for some reason, she felt like she owed it to Maliks. Hadn’t he kept her alive, after all? At the very least he’d been feeding her, which was a kindness in itself. Maliks snarled, his hands twitching for his blades, but as he unsheathed one, and the gathered crowds tensed, he just handed it to Bunny.

She took it, and he gave her a nudge, apparently not going to make it known that she could understand them either. That suited her just fine. She added the sword to her belt, and selected the pistol and dagger. Nylvosk shoved one of his crew members forward, telling them not to get killed by a Lightless Guardian. She wondered how he was going to punish that, but just readied herself. Baron Salzen watched closely, Nylvosk’s champion had three swords, and the Baron called for the match to start.

Her opponent made the first move, jumping through the air towards her, bringing two of their three swords down toward her, but Bunny shot one of the swords out of the way, and parried the second with her dagger, but the third blade came up and sliced at her. She jumped back, finding that her ankle wasn’t giving her much trouble now, but her injured hand was. She ignored it, and entered into a dance with the Eliksni fighter, ducking and weaving out of the way of their attempts to literally cut her down.

She was still clumsy without the Light, and a sword caught her side, cutting her armor, but whatever Maliks’ crew had done to it proved helpful, and it only sliced the armor itself. Still, it sent her rolling, and when she recovered, she decided it was now or never. Bunny rushed them, raising her dagger, expecting them to try to block her, and they did, so she jammed the pistol up against their neck and fired until the gun wouldn’t fire anymore.

The body dropped to the floor. That was one out of four, but maybe Nylvosk had chosen one of his less trained crew members, thinking it would be easy to kill her. She looked back at him, he looked angry, his hand massaging the banners around his hips, growling. “That wasn’t fair!” He roared, “Maliks, you must have found one _with_ the Light!”

Bunny couldn’t take it anymore, “If I had the Light, I wouldn’t be here!” She yelled back, and the crowd around her went silent. They all looked at her, and she swore she heard Maliks stifling a laugh, but she couldn’t be sure. Salzen had sat up again, and got to his feet, striding over to her, reaching, but she took a step back, and that was enough to get him to stop.

“You found one that can speak… How fascinating…” Salzen looked past her at Maliks, who just glared at him. Bunny frowned, she’d shown her hand too early, but it didn’t matter now, now it was extra interesting for them. Salzen gave her one last look, and beckoned to one of his own crew members, a large vandal, who was probably going to take his place if Salzen died. “You can handle more than four, yes?” He said, and Bunny sneered up at him.

He returned to his seat, not having gotten his chance to examine the Guardian more closely, but he could live with it. His champion laughed, confident that he was going to do better than Nylvosk’s had. He had just a rifle, so Bunny matched him. She’d fired a couple of Eliksni weapons before, Variks had asked her to try them out once when she’d helped him with the Prison. She hoped he was still alive.

“Begin.” Salzen said, and this time Bunny fired first, she caught his champion in the chest, and in response, he ran at her, causing a brief look of panic to cross her face, but she was much smaller than he was, and ducked as he swung the butt of his rifle up to try and hit her in the jaw. She dove between his legs, scrambling to her feet and firing again. She caught him in the back, and he swung his gun again, barrel first. Bunny wasn’t quite far enough away, and it caught her cheek, metal cutting through her skin, though not deeply.

She decided this was a game for two, and ran at him, head first. Her head connected with his stomach, and sent him stumbling back a couple of steps, but now she was in arms reach, and he grabbed her. Dazed from headbutting his carapace, she just managed a few weak kicks. Salzen’s second in command grinned, she could tell even with his helmet obscuring his mouth, and he kneed her in the stomach. Bunny wheezed, and he tossed her aside, finally leveling his gun at her. Fortunately for her, he seemed to be more of a display fighter than one who understood to finish a fight before showing off, and was hyping up the crowd, insulting her and laughing at her, all while assuming just pointing his gun at her would do anything.

Bunny got to her feet, and traded her rifle for the sword Maliks had given her. “Idiot.” She barked, and charged him, blade angled to catch between his carapace if she was lucky. He swore and dodged, but Bunny had let him showboat for a minute, and her breath had returned. The small and quick Guardian let him get a few shots on her armor, but kept jumping and running, making herself a moving target. She tried again, and sliced his arm, more red-violet spilling onto the grass. He roared at her, and she jumped back as he swung a fist, then rushed in again, carving upward. This time she got lucky, and the sword sliced up his front, but not deep enough.

His blood oozed onto the ground from between the plates on his torso. “I am going to kill you.” He snarled, tossing his gun to the ground. Bunny held her ground. “I am going to rip your skull from your neck and drink your blood.”

“Try me.” She said, she’d heard better taunts from drunk Titans. He lunged at her, but she had a sword in her hands, and pointed it at him. He did the work for her, blinded by rage to the point where he hadn’t even noticed the blade cutting its way between his shell. Bunny wrenched it upward, blood spraying her. He toppled, and Salzen looked mortified, he was the only one not wearing a helmet, and his mouth was open, speechless. His second in command had been cut down like he was paper.

“The rest of you can fight her all at once.” He said. So that was his answer, a sore loser all around. Bunny huffed, she was getting tired. The remaining three Captains shoved their champions forward, two vandals and a marauder with a spear as well as swords, the gun-wielding vandals would be first, she decided. They circled, and she kept the sword ready, “End her.” Salzen said.

The marauder charged in, but she jumped out of the way, and slid across the blood-slick ground to knock one of the vandals off his feet. She slit his throat in a smooth motion, he was dead before the fight had really started, but the other two were ready for her as she got up. The marauder went for her again, this time with their spear, Bunny went to sidestep, but was a bit to slow, and the blade pierced through her repaired armor and into her arm, she winced, and grabbed it, either hoping the marauder would let go of it, or pull it out of her arm. They did the latter, and she pulled her pistol from her belt again to shoot at it, clumsily, but it was better than nothing. They backed off, and she put the sword away for the dagger, still keeping to her plan of getting rid of the vandals first.

The remaining one looked horrified, but as Bunny charged, unleashed a series of shots. Her shields snapped with a crack, and she gasped as one shot caught her in the stomach, Hemlock couldn’t recharge the shields fast enough. The marauder sliced at her again, jabbing its spear into her hip. She went down, but grabbed the vandals leg as she got up, and toppled them. She wrestled the gun from their hands, while the marauder tried to stab her without hurting the other Eliksni, though they didn’t have much success. The vandal scratched at her, digging their fingers into the spear wound to pull her armor apart, and open it up further, it worked, and Bunny yelped in pain, but responded by smashing the butt of her pistol on its forehead and stabbing it in the neck with her dagger.

She was heaving her breaths now, and the marauder didn’t seem to have any plans to pull their punches, swords in hand again as Bunny struggled to her feet. She could see Maliks behind the marauder, his arms folded over his chest, he looked expectant. Her distraction gave her last opponent the opportunity they wanted, and the swords caught both her shoulders, sliding towards the thick collar of her suit and armor coat. She ducked, lunging for the marauders middle.

Once again she was wrestling an Eliksni into submission, but this one was flailing their swords, and she caught a pommel in the forehead, which she leaned back from, and then she was on the ground, pinned beneath the marauder. “Kill her!” The crowd was cheering, having watched the Guardian wreak utter havoc for, she had no idea how long. Bunny struggled, kicking her legs, trying to fight them off. Her hands closed around the marauders throat, and they tried to pry her off as she squeezed, but adrenaline thrummed in her veins and she held firm. A minute passed, and the Eliksni crumpled on top of her. She managed to shrug them off weakly, and grabbed the spear from their back, stabbing into the marauders neck.

She sank to her knees, exhausted, the injuries she was still recovering from felt even worse. The crowd around the makeshift arena was silent, and Maliks sent his marauders to collect her, dragging her back to him. Bunny sucked wind, trying to keep herself conscious as the pain in her back and arm mounted. “She won. Fair and square.” Maliks said, taking a step forward, she could hear pride in his voice, his determined little prisoner had been a vicious animal, but her head was swimming, and she couldn’t parse what Salzen said next.

She snapped back to full consciousness as she heard gunshots, and one of the marauders next to her dropped dead. Bunny hauled herself to her feet, and backed up as far as she could. Maliks already had a gun in his hands, pointing it at Salzen, who was pointing his own weapon at her Captain. “Are you two insane?” She yelled, but they didn’t respond to her. Maliks’ crew jumped to their Captain’s defense, and Bunny leaned against a tree. Nylvosk crept around the escalating situation, and she pulled the sword from her belt again, “Stay away from me.” She warned, but Nylvosk just shrugged.

Maliks spared a glance back, and was on the other Captain before he could lay a hand on her, hoisting him up despite a slight size difference that should have favored Nylvosk. He drove his remaining sword through Nylvosk’s neck and severed his head, tossing it at Salzen’s feet. “The servitor.” He said, “Is mine.” Bunny remained where she was, bewildered, looking at Nylvosk’s headless body. She stumbled forward, and grabbed onto Maliks’ cloak for support, he pulled her around to stand next to him, holding her up. “No longer will we be bound to your whims, Salzen.” He snarled, and Salzen growled, but the beaten and exhausted Guardian, the head at his feet, and the small crew standing, ready to fight even more for the servitor they felt they deserved was enough. Salzen got to his feet, and gestured for the rest of the Captains to disperse, calling for Nylvosk’s crew to join him. They went willingly.

Once the arena was empty, Maliks relaxed, and released Bunny, who dropped, and groaned as she lay on the ground. “Carry her.” He ordered, and she was picked up. She didn’t remember the walk back to the skiff, or the servitor making its electronic noises, Bunny was barely conscious.


	5. Inhuman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing from Blood.
> 
> Warlocks, who needs'em. They're hard to read and prone to mood swings, at least this one is.

She was fully conscious once again, but was strapped to something, and her eyes still felt too heavy to open. They fluttered, but whoever was around her took little notice. “You could have gotten her killed.” A decidedly female voice snapped, “You did get Nygis killed.” Bunny tried to move again, and managed to wiggle her arms, and the people around her were quiet.

“She’s awake.” Maliks’ voice was a low growl, and she heard him leave the room she was in. A smaller Eliksni stood next to her, and released the straps that were keeping her locked down, she opened her eyes and sat up a bit, immediately regretting it, her head swimming. She groaned, covering her face, and managing to open one of her eyes again.

The female looked sympathetic. “You’ll have to forgive my brother.” She said softly, and helped Bunny right herself, still dizzy, but now she was upright. Bunny looked puzzled, brother? “Thanks to you we can rebuild the crew without worrying so much about our supplies… But…” She trailed off, fidgeting with her cloak in her lower hands. “But we still… lost.” She said, “The large one, who wasn’t wearing the helmet, Salzen, he’s excommunicated us.” Bunny didn’t get it, what did it matter if that asshole had cut them off? She knew the servitor they’d gotten could produce ether, as long as it had glimmer.

“I…” Bunny tried to say she didn’t understand, but the female shook her head.

“Can you walk?” She asked, and Bunny nodded, she could manage. The female lead her back through the skiff, and settled her in the same cell as before. Bunny slumped, they were still keeping her prisoner, but hadn’t the female one just said she’d helped them? There had to be something more to it. Her throat was dry and her arm hurt enough to make her want to cry. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them.

Hemlock appeared at her side, having been safely hidden in her armor. “Well this is just going so well!” It whined, flopping itself onto the bed, twirling the front part of its shell while it laid there. “I found out how long it’s been, we’ve been with them for almost two weeks now!”

She grimaced, that was a solid amount of time, Hawthorne probably thought she was dead, which she supposed she might as well be. She tried to be upbeat, regardless, “Everything will be fine, I just need to keep trying… We’ll get through this, Hemlock.” She said, nudging her Ghost with a finger, “They still want me here for some reason, so… We just have to be patient.”

“Patient?!” Hemlock flew up into her face, “We almost died! Multiple times! We’re stuck here and can’t get home! We might almost die some more!” She pushed her Ghost away with her palm, not in the mood for its lectures about how she was definitely in for it now, and how they were completely doomed.

Bunny ignored its protests and laid down, pulling the furs over her head. She could figure it out, she could find out why they decided to keep her even though she had, presumably, fulfilled her purpose for them. If they didn’t just kill her, there had to be something else, anything else, maybe the female liked her and wanted her to stay? That seemed likely considering how polite she’d been, but she had no idea how their social structure worked. Were female Eliksni considered equals with the males? How did the blood relation— if there was any— work between the female and Maliks? She sighed, and shut her eyes, willing herself to go to sleep.

Hemlock was the one to wake her up, angry beeping at something, or someone. She sat up, winced, and rubbed her eyes. “Stop that!” Hemlock was in the clutches of Captain Maliks, and Bunny stared, uncomprehending, as the Captain tried to pull her Ghosts shell off. “I said stop that! You’re going to break it!” Hemlock whined, trying and failing to escape the Captains hands. Bunny started to laugh, which startled them both, and Maliks released the Ghost. “What’s so funny?” Hemlock asked, safely back next to her head.

“Sorry…” She said, calming herself, “There was just something very funny about waking up to the Captain pulling at your shell…” She patted Hemlock lightly, and then looked back at Maliks, who held out a new shell for the Ghost, it looked almost like a servitors case, but it had been shrunk down considerably, and hollowed out. Bunny looked at the shell, and then at Maliks, who glared at her.

“Take it.” He growled, shoving it at her again. She pursed her lips, and accepted the shell, turning it over in her hands. Maliks stood, intending to leave now that he had achieved his goal.

“Wait.” Bunny stopped him, “Why are you giving me a new shell for my Ghost?” She asked, still looking at it, but she looked up as she heard him grumble. Maliks’ glare softened slightly, but then redoubled, and she wondered if she’d maybe been looking a gift horse in the mouth. She looked away from him, and plucked Hemlock out of the air to put the new shell onto it without causing any harm to her Ghost.

Maliks was still standing there, “That one is damaged.” He said, stating the obvious as Bunny allowed Hemlock to turn it into a tiny amount of glimmer. “This looks better.” He pointed at Hemlock, who seemed content in its new shell, looking like a miniature servitor. Bunny chanced to look up at him, and Maliks crossed his arms. “Stupid.” He snarled, and left her.

“Hey!” Bunny was on her feet, regretting it, but she managed to get to the door before it sealed. “Thanks!” She yelled after him. Maliks turned just in time to see one of her jailers shove the Guardian back into her cell. He frowned, ascending through his skiff to the helm, and leaned on the console, glaring out into the atmosphere of the Earth.

His sister was seated in his chair, but he didn’t bark at her to move as she turned it around to look at him. “How did it go?” She asked placidly, and Maliks turned his glare on her. He didn’t reply to his sisters question, and she sighed, fidgeting with her banners as she waited for him to use his words instead of his eyes.

The waiting paid off, “She said thanks.” He said, “However she laughed at me.” His sister looked at him, scrutinizing her massive brother for some sort of weakness. The Guardian hadn’t been rude to them, and she didn’t get the feeling that the human girl had laughed out of malice. “She said it was funny to see me trying to fix her Ghost.” His sister brought two of her hands up to her face, and groaned.

“You’re supposed to wake her up first, Maliks. Tell her you have a new shell for her Ghost, and then hand it to her. Not accost the poor thing.”

“It’s a robot.” He grunted, “What does it matter?”

His sister hopped up from his seat, but he remained at the console, “You asked me for help.” Maliks sneered at her, “If you’re going to be immature about it, then I’ll just take her the cloak you had made for her, and—”

“Peridys.” Maliks tone was a warning as much as it was exasperated. Peridys shrugged an elegant shrug, her limbs providing her with some manner of grace, where Maliks had only brute strength and a thick skull.

She gave him a push to his seat, and he grumbled as he sat down. “You should at least let her out of that cell.” Peridys said, “You’ll never get her to think of you as anything more than a brute if you keep her locked up.” Maliks clenched his fists, he knew his sister had a point, but he hated admitting she was right. He was already considered weak enough, keeping his family with him. On top of that, Peridys was the only remaining female on his skiff. No one would respect a Captain who didn’t produce his own offspring, as backwards as he thought that was. “I’ll take the cloak, then.” Peridys repeated.

Maliks grabbed her by the scruff, “Do not.” He said, “She does not need more gifts now.” That stopped her, for now. She nodded, and went back to her station. He loved his sister dearly, but she was a real thorn in his side. The rest of the night passed without incident, they descended to the Earth, and Maliks successfully acquired more resources for them, including a sizable amount of glimmer, with no interruptions of the Guardian sort.

Satisfied, he returned to his room, the small cloak he’d demanded be made for the Guardian in hand, and paced, holding the fabric in his lower hands. The fur was soft, they’d hunted down a baby wolf and skinned it. He wondered if she’d be upset if she found out what it was, but she was soft, so the cloak had to be soft too, at least, that’s what his logic was. Maliks tossed it to his bed, and continued to pace. She’d laughed at him, it was true, but something about the way her voice sounded was too sweet to be hateful.

Though, he scratched his neck, thinking, she did have a voice in that head of hers, and ferocity like a cornered animal. He stopped pacing, and looked at the cloak, it was smaller than even Peridys’ cloak, which she’d chopped to be a half length affair, stating it got in her way otherwise. He picked it up, and went down to the cell the Guardian was in, finding her asleep once more. _Wake her up first,_ his sisters voice echoed in his skull, and he frowned, but he supposed that was a better choice than just dumping it on her and leaving.

As much as he wanted to. 

He went over to her bed, and gently shook her awake. She flailed, and sat up with a squawk. Maliks shifted away, and held out the cloak. “… What? What’s this for?” She asked, looking at him quizzically. He glared at her, and she looked away, taking the cloak from him silently.

What was he supposed to say now? He had forgotten to ask his sister that. “Get up.” He ordered instead, and she looked up from the cloak, even more confused, but eventually obeyed, and he lead her out of the cell. She looked alarmed, but he had barked an order for the jailers to go back to their normal schedule, and marched her up to his room, instead of down to the staging area of the ship. “You have a name, don’t you?” He asked, shoving her into his room. She turned on him, looking angry.

“Why does it matter what my name is? Why are you giving me things?” She wasn’t pretending to be respectful now, if she ever had been in the first place. “What are you doing with me anyways? I’m not… I’m not some kind of _pet._ ” There was venom in her words, and Maliks frowned. She didn’t trust him, despite his best efforts to earn even a small sliver of it.

Maliks crossed his arms, she watched him closely. He knew she was always thinking, the only Guardians that didn’t think constantly were Titans, and she hadn’t been wearing a mobile fortress when they’d found her. Warlocks, he hated Warlocks, “You are.” He said, “You are _my_ pet, the sooner you accept this the better.” He took a step forward, but the Guardian took a step back. “Tell me your name.” He growled.

Her eyes went from his folded arms to his face, she was memorizing things about him. His mannerisms, the way he spoke, she was going to kill him the first chance she got, he could feel it. “Bunny.” She said, and Maliks walked her back, forcing her to back up into the wall of his room. He pinned her there, lower hands on her shoulders, upper hands on the wall. She looked up at him, “And here I thought you were better than other Captains, not giving into the base desire.” She snapped, and Maliks’ claws scraped on the wall.

“You are attempting to get inside my head.” He said, “It’s not going to work, Buh-nee. I am the one in control here.” That felt like a bold faced lie, she was getting into his head, like a little Hive worm, digging her way through his carapace and armor. “If you are comparing me to Nylvosk, then you are correct, I am a better Captain than he was.”

She still had the cloak in her hands, and now dropped it, reaching up to grab the fur collar on his, yanking him down to her level. “Let me go.” Maliks squinted at her, “Take me back to the Shard and leave me there.” His grip lessened on her shoulders, and he backed off a bit, glaring at her, but the words hurt more than he expected. She straightened her armor as he stepped away from her, considering his options. He flexed his hands, and considered striking her, but something stopped him, and he just went to sit on his bed, turning his glare on the floor. She stayed where she was.

Bunny collected the cloak in her hands again, looking at it, she felt a little bad, maybe, but she almost missed the Farm, and she definitely missed being allowed to come and go as she pleased, but… She looked at Maliks, he was somewhere between angry and upset, that much was clear. He didn’t say anything to her, and she didn’t know what to say to him after that, maybe she’d jumped the shark, hadn’t they been pretty nice to her so far? He’d even bothered to give Hemlock a new shell, and make a cloak for her. She held it up, and sighed. “You truly want to go home?” Maliks asked, startling her.

She nodded weakly, “I do… but I should… I… I shouldn’t have been so rude about it.” Maliks looked suspicious, and Bunny finally moved, sitting next to him, pulling the cloak around her shoulders. To his surprise, she started to cry. Maliks panicked, he didn’t know what to do about that, and gingerly set a hand on her back, that was supposed to work. Bunny turned, and threw her arms around him. “I’m scared!” She cried, and he patted her back, having no experience with human emotions beyond anger, that he could understand.

“I am sorry.” He said, which helped a little bit, her wails turning into choked noises. She hiccuped, “If there is any comfort in it, my sister has already called me many names for forcing you to fight while injured.” Bunny looked up at him, sniffling, “… You killed the one I was going to send into the contest originally.” She frowned.

“I… I guess that makes sense…” He was just relieved she’d stopped crying. Bunny slumped against him, and Maliks placed another arm around her. “Why did you give me this cloak?” She asked, fiddling with part of the cloak itself, the color suited her, it matched her eyes.

Maliks frowned, “You’re part of my crew.” He said, as if it was obvious, “… Although if you wish to return to your home then it will be short lived. You may keep that.” He gestured at the cloak, “Humans place sentimental values on things, yes? Same as Eliksni.” Bunny pulled the fabric around her, it was just long enough that it would cover her rear when she stood up. She reached to pull his cloak around her too. “Buh-nee?”

She just shook her head, and he let her curl up against him. When she fell asleep, he picked her up, and set her on his bed, laying next to her on his back. He stared at the ceiling, and then at the wall, and then finally at her. Why had he kept her so long? She’d fulfilled her purpose, and he had no use for a Guardian, whether she wanted to stay or not. He didn’t know enough about humans to look after her properly, and yet… He glared at her, he wanted her to laugh more, he liked that sound, and he thought she looked nice wrapped up in his banners. Maliks wanted to see her in nothing but his banners.

He pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her protectively. Maybe she’d want to stay if she felt like she belonged there, with him.


	6. Warlock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maliks contradicts himself, Bunny can't figure out what's bothering her because she's too distracted by getting railed, Hemlock panics. You know, the usual.
> 
> And will she ever get her Light back? I don't know, but the end is nigh.

Bunny stretched her arms, but something was in her way. She yawned, squirming, something was… holding her? One eye opened, and all she saw was black carapace. She tried to sit up, but Maliks held her tight, and rumbled in his sleep. Bunny made a face, he was awfully cuddly when he wasn’t conscious. She settled against him and sighed, wondering if he was upset with her for demanding to be taken home, he hadn’t exactly been cruel to her. She tapped a finger lightly on one of the carapace plates on his chest, tracing a faint scar on it.

He stayed asleep, even as she squirmed and tried to wiggle free again, attempting to get a better look at him. Maliks did shift, and press his face into her hair, which made Bunny tense up. He didn’t have a helmet on, and now had his very dangerous mouth a bit too close for her comfort, but he was still asleep. She wiggled a bit, and tried to get out from under him so she could look at his face, but all she could see was his neck, and the barest hint of a fairly awful looking scar.

She waited for the inevitable hushed lecture from her Ghost, but Hemlock was quiet, having escaped from under the furs and the protective hug of the Eliksni some hours before, floating nearby but looking not at all surprised. “Nothing to say?” She whispered at it, and Hemlock rolled its eye.

“I don’t know how you can stay there comfortably, it was warm enough under all of that,” Hemlock gestured with its shell at Maliks, “That it started to bother me, and I’m not even a human.” Bunny quirked a half smile, and made a point to snuggle up closer into Maliks’ hug, she was warm, maybe a bit uncomfortably so, but she was going to gloat a little bit if she could.

“I don’t know, Hemlock,” She was still whispering, “It’s very cozy, I don’t think I want to leave… What if I forget what warmth is?” Hemlock glared at her, and she giggled quietly. Maliks yawned, growling as he did, and squished her against him, causing her to yelp a bit, which inevitably woke him up.

“Sorry.” He grunted, and released her, sitting up and reaching for his helmet, but Bunny stopped him, grabbing one of his arms. He looked at her, glaring at first, and then set his helmet aside again, allowing the Guardian to pull him back down. “What?”

Bunny was very careful, touching the edge of the scar on his face. Her guess had been right, it was awful, carving up some of the carapace on his jaw and cheek. He flinched a bit, pulling his head back. “What happened?” She asked softly, curiosity getting the better of her. She hoped it hadn’t been Guardians, but chances were too good that it had been.

Maliks made an annoyed sound, but Bunny persisted, keeping her hand on his face. He told himself she was harmless. “Guardians.” He said, and watched as Bunny’s face went pale, her hand suddenly jerking back from his face, trembling. She squirmed away from him, “It was not you.” He grumbled, reaching out to pin her underneath him. She looked scared, perhaps forgetting that without her Light, she was weak, breakable.

“S-sorry.” She squeaked out, looking anywhere else, Hemlock bumped against Maliks, trying to get the Captain to let her go, but Maliks held her down, and pulled her armor apart, tearing the suit with his claws. Bunny would have covered her eyes if her hands hadn’t been pinned down. His lower hands pulled the now ruined suit apart, and one slid between her breasts, digging his claws into scars.

He stared at her, “Shrapnel launcher.” He rumbled, cutting into her skin a bit. Maliks released her wrists, so Bunny covered her face with one hand, and tried to preserve some of her modesty with the other. He gave her a dismissive look, “I saw them when our medics bandaged you up.” He meant the scars, but Bunny’s face flushed anyhow, which puzzled him. “What are you doing?”

“Wh— what? I’m n-not doing anything…” She said, and Maliks pinched her face in one of his hands, pulling on her skin gently.

“Your face is red. Are you ill?” To his credit, he did sound concerned, but it made Bunny laugh, and that only made him more perplexed. He was still hovering over her, and now she was laughing at him again. Discipline, the girl needed discipline. He leaned down and sank his teeth into her shoulder, and her laughter stopped suddenly, a strange noise replacing it instead. He bit harder, and she squirmed. Her skin broke under his teeth, and when he pulled away from her, he licked her blood from his teeth. Her face was completely red, and she looked a bit dazed. “Buh-nee?”

She didn’t seem to register her name being said, just staring at him, but her hands reached up to his face, “… do that again.” Maliks squinted, she wanted him to bite her? “Please.” He pushed her hands from his face, and leaned down over her other shoulder, pulling the suit and her armor off more, revealing her skin. He bit her again, and she made her strange noise again, she must have been enjoying it, because her arms wrapped around him. He didn’t understand why she wanted him to hurt her, but the noises she made as he scratched his claws down her front to strip her from her armor were… pleasant.

Hemlock was the one to interrupt them, “What in the name of the Light are you doing!” It wailed, and Bunny startled, sitting up and latching onto Maliks for protection, his reflexes kicked in and he sat up into a crouch, holding her close. “Let go of her!”

“… Why? She was enjoying it, I—”

“Because it’s creepy!” Maliks grunted as the Ghost insulted him. “You’re probably planning to eat her!” He looked at the Ghost as if it had started to grow limbs, and now it was his turn to laugh. Bunny just hid against him, flustered and embarrassed, she’d forgotten about Hemlock.

“Eliksni do not eat humans… We eat much of your Earth animals, this was much easier than trying to find somewhere to grow foods from our home world.” Hemlock didn’t believe him, and he growled, “I would not eat Buh-nee, Ghost.” He settled a bit, realizing he’d gone into survival mode, expecting the Ghost to attack them both, when it was unable to. He pushed Bunny back down onto his bed, and she reached up with one hand to grab Hemlock. She said something to it in her language, and set the little Ghost aside, where it eyed them suspiciously, but eventually floated away. “Why do you want me to bite you?” He asked, taking advantage of the interruption to get to the bottom of it.

Bunny’s cheeks went red again, he was beginning to like that reaction. “I-I um… I like it… e-even if it kind of stings.” She wasn’t looking at him, too embarrassed to, so he made her, pulling her face by her chin, and her gaze along with it. “A-and—” She started, hiccuping as her nerves became considerably more frayed, “And I like it wh-when you claw at me.” Maliks didn’t get it, why did she like it? She hadn’t explained herself.

He pressed, “Why do you like it? This is what I want to know.” Bunny squirmed, hiccuping some more, it was endearing, but he wanted answers, and gave her no chance of escape. She covered her mouth with one of her hands, and Maliks did his best not to snort at her, he was starting to piece it together. “… Is it a human mating—”

“No!” Bunny squeaked, and covered her face, “I mean— y-yes, but—” She peeked out between her fingers, Maliks was just waiting, “It— I— I’ve never… um…” She struggled with the words, she didn’t even know if Eliksni had the same concepts of virginity like humans did. She bit her lip, and made a frustrated noise, much to Maliks’ amusement. “I-I didn’t know I liked th-that until you did it.”

He grinned at her, or she assumed it was a grin, baring his teeth in a slightly threatening way, but the way his eyes almost brightened a bit told her it wasn’t meant to be as threatening as it looked. “Eliksni often bite when they mate.” He rumbled, and Bunny hiccuped a few times in rapid succession. “It is also disciplinary… though we don’t bite so hard in that case, usually.” His gaze flicked to the marks on her shoulders, they were bleeding slightly. Bunny made a face at him, she looked upset, but not quite upset enough to cry.

“You were trying to discipline me?” She whined, and he shrugged his shoulders, he had no defense. “… W-well, find a better way to do that, b-because—” Maliks decided he was finished with the conversation, and leaned down to sink his teeth into her neck. Bunny moaned, her hands grabbing at his cloak, he’d pushed hers out of the way as he’d pulled her armor off. He felt just lightly prideful, he hadn’t needed his sisters help in the end, she was _his_.

Bunny gasped as his claws dug into her skin and scraped down to her hips, he stripped her armor off and tossed it aside, it was ruined again anyhow, she didn’t need it. He’d left angry red marks all over her chest, and scratched up her thighs too. Her head was swimming, what was she doing? She didn’t want him to stop, but something felt off, like she was lying to herself or to him about something.

He picked her up, and pushed her against the wall, his hands searching between her legs. Maliks was being cautious, clawed fingers sliding between her folds and gently pushing into her, she should have said something, anything to help, but the only noises she made were gasped moans. His fingers slipped out of her, and were searching again, she wasn’t sure if he knew what he was doing, but it was clear that her body intrigued him. One of his fingers pressed against the pucker of her ass, and Bunny twitched. Maliks paused, as if considering something, but he pressed his finger in, still careful of his claws, and wiggled it. His jaws clicked next to her ears as he moved to speak, “You have never been mated before, have you?” He asked, and Bunny’s face flushed scarlet as she looked at him, a grumpy little pout on her face. He took that as a no, and slid another finger into her.

Bunny squirmed, but Maliks simply took one of her legs in his hands and pressed her against the wall, holding the leg up, and trapping her there. She felt two of something push up against her, and the color on her cheeks drained quickly, “T-two—” She squeaked out, and Maliks paused, the heads of his cocks poised to thrust into her.

“Humans do not have two?” He asked, and Bunny looked incredulous, her mouth opening in shock or horror, he wasn’t sure. She shook her head, and Maliks squinted, “I am surprised humans managed to proliferate at all, then.” He bucked his hips up, meeting resistance as he tried to enter her, but he could be patient, and gently tried to pull her down onto him. Bunny still looked slightly horrified. The lower of his two cocks slid into her first, and took a little bit of maneuvering to get the upper one to push into her too. Bunny tried to force herself to relax, he wasn’t going to hurt her, maybe. She made a whiny noise as he pushed her against the wall, sinking his cocks into her. 

Maliks grasped her wrists in one of his upper hands, still holding her leg up with one of the lower pair, the remaining two settled on her hips, and his claws dug into the skin, cutting into it to make her bleed. Bunny made a mewling sound, it didn’t hurt, but he wasn’t exactly sized for a human, and she could feel each ridge on both of his cocks as he rocked his hips against hers. “G-god…” She barely managed to get the word out, and Maliks growled approvingly, apparently pleased by overwhelming her.

He released her wrists, allowing her to brace herself a bit better against the wall, and replaced the freed hand around her throat, not choking her, he was controlling her. Bunny tried to look at him, but his claws scraped her neck, and she whimpered as she felt them scratch, but he let her, his face next to hers. She was suddenly keenly aware of just how fragile she was in comparison, he was all muscle and hard shell, and she just wasn’t. She felt like she was made out of tissue papers. Maliks lifted her a bit, growling as he felt Bunny’s muscles clench around him, humans were certainly interesting. “Do you wish for me to bite you, Buh-nee?” He asked, definitely teasing her, and he bucked his hips up hard as he asked, earning a surprised squeak.

"Y-yes.” Bunny tried to push away from the wall, using it for leverage to meet his hips, but of course he kept her almost completely still. She heard another growl as his mouth moved to her shoulder, and she moaned loudly as his teeth bit into her again. He liked that, and he liked how her body responded to his when he thrust into her, slick and tight, squeezing down on him. She whined something in her language, he heard his name, but understood nothing else, and then she kept repeating his name, over and over, her voice turning into little more than gasps as her muscles squeezed. He squinted, but she didn’t seem to be in pain, and he could feel her pulse in her neck, and around his cocks.

Maliks released her shoulder, moving to the other one to bite it too, and Bunny cried out an unintelligent sound, it was somewhere between a squeal and a word, but he wasn’t sure which. He pulled away from her, sliding out almost completely, “You are noisy.” He purred, and Bunny hiccuped, sucking in little gasps of air. She reached to hold onto his arms, trying to get him to fuck her again, but Maliks picked her up. He dropped her onto his bed once more, and pulled her hips up as she tried to figure out what he was doing— that swiftly became clear as he held her down, thrusting back into her hard. She groaned, now she had more leverage, and clung to the furs, squirming with her legs pulled around him.

Her neck was still unmarked, and Maliks leaned down to bite her there, but hesitated, and went back to her shoulders, he couldn’t claim her yet, not until he was certain. He rumbled with his teeth sunk into her skin, pushing her into the bed, holding her hips up so he could rut her as hard as he liked, but he was no longer concerned about hurting her, she seemed to be enjoying the rough treatment. “Mmah— ah!” Bunny gasped, her head was swimming again, but there were a few coherent thoughts, she was focused on how Maliks felt inside of her. If he’d been planning this as a way to change her mind and make her want to stay, it was definitely working, but she could barely put that thought together. “H-harder.” She squeaked out, and Maliks removed his mouth from her shoulder, licking up the pinpricks of blood his teeth left.

Bunny was pushing her hips up to meet his as much as she could, braced on her elbows against his bed. Maliks purred, she was a good human, one who understood her place beneath Eliksni well, and yet she was a strange human, demanding that Eliksni hurt her. He grabbed her wrists, holding her down, and then covering her hands with his, she arched her back as he used his lower hands to pull her hips up, thrusting hard into her. Her noises turned pained, but still pleased. He could feel her muscles squeezing again, milking him, which was a very strange but equally wonderful feeling. Bunny whined a noise, her hands shifting a bit so she could hold tightly to his. That same tight pulsing around his cocks happened again, and he heard her gasps turn ragged. He released her hands to snake his upper arms around her, pulling her into him as he leaned down over her, and growled into her neck as he rutted her against his bed.

“You are mine.” He snarled into her skin, Bunny whimpered in response, and Maliks pulled her hips onto his as he came inside of her. She hiccuped a few noises, her hands trembling as she clung to the furs on his bed. Maliks wondered if he should have said anything, and pushed himself up, gently letting her drop to the bed, laying there with her bottom in the air as he pulled out of her. She managed to roll onto her back, looking at him through half-lidded eyes. To his surprise, she reached for him, one shaking hand stretching up to grab his arm as he moved to collect his helmet finally. “Hm?”

Bunny looked dazed, but she blinked her eyes, and he saw the unmistakable glint of lucidity in them. “Wh-what if I changed my mind?” Maliks growled at her, but hadn’t that been his intent? To convince her somehow to stay. Warlocks, he loved Warlocks, the way their minds worked faster than he could ever hope to keep up with. He didn’t answer, pulling his arm away from her hand so he could hold it instead. He gestured at her armor, and she rolled again, frowning as she saw it tossed into two separate piles on the floor. “Mmhn…” She frowned, she couldn’t just show up without her armor after all, he'd planned it too well.

“Peridys will mend it.” Maliks said flatly, and pulled his hand from hers, collecting his helmet. She folded her arms under her chin, pouting.


	7. Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She finally gets her Light back, and then some drama too.

Maliks descended into the helm of his skiff with his helmet in his hands, he affixed it as Peridys turned to look at him, and he glared at her as she adopted a questioning pose, her willowy arms folded over her chest and her middle, hip cocked to one side. “Her armor requires mending.” He grunted, and looked away from his sister. He wasn’t going to be judged by the female for what he’d done, she’d no doubt stay in the room with Bunny— why hadn’t _he_ stayed? He tried not to fixate on that, she was a Guardian, she could handle being alone. Peridys shifted behind him, and Maliks spared a curious glance as she just shook her head and left.

His hands unclenched, he hadn’t noticed he’d been making fists.

Peridys didn’t bother to knock, she knew what to expect, and Bunny was staring out at one of the piles of her armor, having pulled her gifted cloak partially around her naked body. She looked up as Peridys entered, but the female Eliksni just shook her head. “I’m here for the armor.” She said softly. Bunny still watched her as she crossed the room to collect the shredded inner suit, and the ripped coat that went over it. “… He did not hurt you, did he?” She asked, casting a look down at Bunny, curious, perhaps almost expectant.

“That would… depend on what constitutes being hurt.” Bunny said, chewing her lip. Peridys sat on the bed next to her, folding the armor she was holding over one of her lower arms, and gestured for Bunny to sit up. She remembered the female, the same one who had been so sweet after the fight for the servitor. If she struggled to keep her expression neutral as Bunny sat up, allowing the cloak to shift aside to reveal her shoulders, teeth marks bright red on her pale skin, Bunny couldn’t tell. Peridys just looked at her, and sighed. “Is it that bad?” Bunny asked, hesitation in her voice.

“No.” Peridys shook her head, “I—” How could she put this? She had been manipulating her brother into keeping the Warlock? No, that wouldn’t do, even if it was true. “I had my suspicions this would happen, but Maliks is…” She trailed off, gesturing vaguely with one of her free hands. The door to the room opened again, and instead of Maliks, two vandals stood in the doorway. Bunny was quick to cover herself. 

“So it’s true!” One of them said, and Peridys got to her feet, setting aside what was left of Bunny’s armor. “He did—”

“Narak.” Peridys’ tone of voice was a threat, “Leave, you and Phyrik have things to be doing, do you not? I will inform my brother you are shirking your responsi—”

“What does it matter, Peridys?” Narak responded, marching forward, “Did he claim her? What does he think he’s doing? You know your brother isn’t fit to lead a crew.” Narak reached to grab Bunny, but Peridys stopped him, she was strong, possibly as strong as Maliks was, maybe more so, but for the moment, Bunny was just glad the female was on her side. And what did he mean, claim her? Bunny stayed quiet.

Peridys shoved Narak back. “Why do you despise the man you follow?” She hissed, and Phyrik spoke up now, having been leaning in the doorway, looking unimpressed.

“We don’t follow that wad of _dregspit_.” Phyrik barked, “Salzen tossed us out, and that fool was dumb enough to take us in.” Bunny winced, that insult was not one she had heard before, and somehow that made it worse. She shifted, hiding behind Peridys. “Not that anyone is going to be surprised when we tell the rest that he mated with a human.”

Peridys had crossed her arms and cocked her hip again, looking wholly unimpressed with the two troublemakers. “You have been nothing but a couple of thorns in my side since we took the girl in.” She said, “Have you forgotten so quickly that she earned us more freedom than Nylvosk ever had?” That didn’t help, Narak growled, but Peridys was clearly someone they feared more than her brother, and as she stepped towards them, they backed off, scurrying out of the room to brood about being shut down so quickly. Peridys returned to Bunny’s side, and offered a hand to her. “Forget about them, I am personally supportive of what Maliks chooses to do, you have been… perhaps not treated so well, but you have not tried to hurt anyone who has not deserved it.”

Bunny managed a smile, and took Peridys’ hand. She assured her that the armor would be repaired soon, but she stopped the female before she left the room. “What… What did they mean by… that— by that—” She couldn’t bring herself to even say it. Peridys tilted her head, but a look of understanding eventually settled on her face, four eyes looking away from Bunny. The female sighed, and shifted.

“It is something that the males get called when their sire is not… favorable within a house.” She said, and Bunny’s face contorted a bit. “My own father was a Baron, Maliks is only my half brother.” She explained, “His father was… a dreg. Baroness Priavyn, our mother, she hid him after his birth, but could not spare his brothers. He has been living a lie, but this is why he is fearsome, he has very little to lose, in the end.” 

Bunny didn’t know what to say, so she fidgeted with the cloak, Peridys was patient, just like her brother had been a few times, waiting quietly for the Warlock to find her words. “That’s horrible.” She said weakly, what else could she say? “He’s a Captain, that’s all that should matter.” Peridys nodded, and smoothed her hair out a bit, assuring her that the two girls were on the same page.

After she left, Hemlock floated back over to her, having been hiding on the other side of the bed. “Those two were the ones who wanted to kill you!” It chirped, “And Peridys, I knew I recognized the voice, she kept telling Maliks that you weren’t dangerous since you can talk to them!” Bunny laid on her back, feeling suddenly winded. That two of his own crew— even if they were sort of adopted— could hate him so much, when he struggled for them, he took far too many risks, he placed his trust in her. She felt sick. “You’re not…”

“I need my Light.” She said, and got up from the bed, pacing while she thought, how could she put it so he wouldn’t get upset with her. Then again, he’d said she was his, so that had to help, right? And Narak had said something about claiming her. “Hemlock, I know you’re going to tell me this is a bad idea, but we’re alive, and Peridys seems to have a lot of sway over her brother.”

“Well…” Hemlock started, its little servitor-like case twirling. “I was doing a little bit of digging into their systems— I know, I know, it’s very rude— but Peridys is the only female on this skiff.” Bunny blinked at her Ghost, “Seems like the others were taken by Salzen, and Maliks might be planning to try and get rid of him, why else would he want an ether servitor of any size? Oh, the only female until you showed up, but—”

“But I’m not Eliksni, I know.” She said, and continued her pacing, she could do it, she could tell Maliks he wasn’t so worthless to her, he’d given her things, and said she could keep them if she left, if she did she knew they’d end up being some of her prized possessions in the end. “He said I was his.” Bunny could feel her stomach twist up as she remembered it, his voice rattling through her chest and skull, the words sticking deep inside her gray matter. She placed her hands on her stomach, everything felt hot, her fingers, her chest, her toes, everything. “I…” She felt like she was going to be sick, but as she tried to say so, the feeling faded, and her muscles tensed up.

She had no idea what love was like, she’d felt respect— for Zavala, Shaxx, Saladin, she admired Ikora quite a bit, aspiring to be as confident as she was, but love was foreign. She didn’t have time for love, not until time had forcibly been handed to her thanks to Ghaul. Hemlock studied her closely, her face was flushed, hands on her stomach as if she was about to be ill, fingers trembling. “Are you alright?” It asked, looking her over, the bites had bled, but they weren’t all that deep, and the scratches were mostly for show.

“I… I think so…” Bunny said, why did she feel dizzy? She stumbled back to the bed and sat down, then laid on her back, and covered her face, giggling wildly. Her thoughts were jumbling up, but instead of it bothering her, it was pleasant, as if someone was wrapping her up in soft blankets and cuddling her. “Hemlock…” She started, and Hemlock hovered over her, “This is— you’re going to judge me for asking, but how do people usually describe the feeling of love? N-not like, the definition, but the physical feeling.”

The Ghost looked intensely judgmental of her, its shell rippling even more judgmentally. “Oh no.” It said, but fortunately obliged its Guardian. Butterflies in the stomach, sometimes dizziness, warmth, trembling nervousness. Bunny rolled onto her stomach, covering her face as her Ghost prattled off a list of what were essentially symptoms. That was it, she was in love, a whole ranger of emotions had been granted to her, she was no longer a Guardian afraid of the things that lurked in the Darkness, no longer sad and angry, frustrated that the Traveler chose her instead of someone else, no longer amazed by the displays of strength from her peers and her betters. She was in love. “You can’t seriously be in love with him!” Hemlock beeped, but it couldn’t think of a reason why not.

Now all she had to do was figure out how to articulate that to him. She knew they experienced the emotion, but they didn’t experience it in the same way she did. Not to mention figuring out how to broach the subject with Hawthorne— if she ever saw the woman again. Maybe she could bring it up to Shaxx first, he’d always been a bastion of positivity to the point of it giving Bunny headaches. And what would happen when Zavala and the rest of the Vanguard were inevitably found? Nerves, she was all nerves, bad nerves.

Bunny stayed as still as she could, afraid that she might come apart if she moved too much, and eventually the door opened again, Peridys was holding her mended armor. “Are you alright?” She asked, looking a bit concerned, but Bunny nodded, and forced herself to sit up, accepting her gear from the female. “You look ill.”

“I-I’m just… thinking about things, it’s a bad habit for Warlocks sometimes.” She laughed nervously, and Peridys gave her a look, but nodded. Another Eliksni popped up with a plate of food, and Bunny paused, there was more than just meat on it this time. She recognized potatoes, had they raided the Farm? She looked at Peridys, about to ask where they got the vegetables.

The rest of them she didn’t recognize. “I know what you may be thinking, it’s much too dangerous to risk getting that close to a Guardian encampment even for food, some of the more… industrious Captains have small growing areas on their skiffs, we were able to trade ether for more food.” Bunny nodded, and set the plate aside so she could get dressed. “… Humans are omnivorous, yes?” She couldn’t help but giggle as Peridys asked.

“Yes.” The female sat with her again, and Bunny asked her about some of the mystery foods on the plate, they were crops they’d brought from their home world, centuries before, most ships didn’t have them, but some of the Eliksni colony vessels still had them, and sometimes they could even get back to the colony vessels to trade. Bunny nibbled each of them curiously, but they tasted just fine, and Hemlock assured her that they weren’t terribly different from Earth vegetables, at least in terms of whether or not they’d make her ill. Some of them sure tasted odd, but Bunny stayed quiet about that. “Um,” Bunny started, chewing on a small green stalk, “I was wondering, Peridys… I was thinking of asking your brother if I could stay with you all a little while longer, but I… I’m not sure how to ask if I can get my Light back— I— I’d be a lot more useful with it.” Peridys nodded.

“Yes, yes, I have been trying to convince him to take us back to the Shard for a time, if you intend to do anything further— for us or otherwise, you can’t do it on your own. The Great Machine’s blessing is… very necessary. I will keep pestering him about it.” Bunny thanked her, that was about the best she could hope for, she was still stuck on his skiff until he decided to return to the Shard, even with her armor fixed up now.

Bunny flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. “I can’t believe you’re in love with him.” Hemlock said, floating over her face, “Are you sure? Maybe you’re just sick.” It sounded more concerned than upset with her, she understood why. Had anything like this ever happened before? And if it had, did the Guardian get thrown out of the City? Even if the City was gone now.

“Neither can I.” She said softly, “But you remember what Hawthorne said before we left, I have to trust my gut.” She poked her Ghost, and Hemlock settled down next to her. She didn’t know if she slept, but when Maliks came back, he jostled her into consciousness, and she sat up, quickly grabbing his upper hands. “I have to tell you something, is there somewhere we can talk privately?”

He looked at her, suspicious, but nodded, and pulled one of his hands free of hers to lead her through the skiff, and then down into the forest. Bunny’s heart sank slightly as she recognized the forest that surrounded the Shard, corrupt and smelling faintly of vanilla. “What is it? Peridys says you want to help us, but you need your Light.” Bunny exhaled a small, relieved breath, so she’d succeeded. That was a good sign.

She looked up at him, and took both of his hands again. “You said I was yours.” She started, and Maliks squinted at her, “And then… then Narak asked if you had claimed me, I don’t know— I didn’t ask Peridys what he meant, but I… I want you to claim me.” His expression changed slowly, and eventually Maliks reached up to pull his helmet off, turning her around, and gesturing for her to undo the suit enough to reveal her neck.

“You don’t even fully understand what you are doing.” He said, two hands coming up to close around her neck as he leaned in. She heard him open his mouth, his hands moving so he could bite the back of her neck, but he hesitated. “… Retrieve your Light.” He grunted, releasing her, and giving her a little push forward. Bunny looked at him, zipping her suit back up, “I know it makes little difference, but I would claim a Guardian.” She smiled, and reached for his hand, he hadn’t intended to go with her, but she gently pulled him along with her, and he found it hard to stop.

The Shard wasn’t far, and Maliks gently picked her up as they came to a small cliff, setting her down once he’d jumped to the lower part of the forest floor. Bunny released his hand as they came up to the Shard, and Maliks leaned against a nearby rock. She stood in front of the Shard, and turned to look at him as tendrils of Light extended from it, curling around her, Maliks watched curiously. She grinned at him, and the Light shot out violently, enveloping her. He understood why she wanted him to see it, if she was his, then she was the connection to the Light for him, to the Great Machine.

When the Shard finally set her on her feet, Maliks pushed himself up from the rock he’d been leaning on. She rushed over, and hugged him around his middle. “Thank you.” She said, and shuffled back slightly, pulling her suit aside once more, turning so she could look down, and present her neck to him. Maliks shifted, it felt a lot more… intimate to do in front of the Shard, but the Great Machine wouldn’t judge, he hoped. Bunny made a small noise as his teeth sank into her neck, and he pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly once he was certain he’d bitten her hard enough. She squirmed around until she could hug him back, and climbed up his front.

Bunny felt safe, safer than she ever had in the short time she’d been a Guardian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok a little insight on how I view the Eliksni. 
> 
> 50/50 split of Matriarchal/Patriarchal society, where the women are the ones "in charge" for the most part, but the males are the visual leaders, due to another headcanon of mine which is basically, females are a lot more rare at birth. Peridys for example was the only girl in a litter of 7 children, and Maliks only has brothers from his litter (5).
> 
> To that end, only the ranks are passed down from father to son, and girls are all given a choice or at the very least a chance to work their way up (Mom Priavyn did this). Plus, I figure the men don't really involve themselves with the rearing of the children except in extreme cases, so very few people were aware of Maliks' birthright until Salzen found out sometime around the time the order to retreat went out.
> 
> Furthermore, Priavyn was a kind but firm sort of lady, she didn't take bullshit but she didn't like to walk all over the lower ranked members of her crew, which is how she ended up with a dreg consort in her harem. She was the daughter of two dregs and understood. 
> 
> And a bit about the insult, since dregs remain the lowest rank of Eliksni, being called "dregspit" is pretty rude! Because spitting is rude and usually implies whoever is doing the spitting doesn't want the spit.


	8. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't a very fair match-up for a certain pair of idiots. Maliks also learns about odd human traditions and displays of affection.

Maliks set her on the ground, looking at her. There were other things that could complicate matters, they both knew it, but he decided he wasn’t going to bring those up. Bunny took his hand, and they walked back through the forest, not expecting much. There were bodies scattered around, some other Guardian, or Guardians, had been there. Neither of them focused on that.

They did stop as they spotted Narak perched on a branch, in a casual pose, as if he was about to ask Maliks what was for dinner. Phyrik was beneath him on the ground, rifle in hand. “You’re still going to keep it?” Narak asked, swinging one of his legs, still casual. Bunny clenched her free hand into a fist. “It’s going to kill us.” She was an _it_ again.

Maliks crossed his lower arms, he wasn’t impressed with his adopted crew members. “Is she.” He grumbled, “Why hasn’t she done it then?” He released Bunny’s hand, and looked at her, prompting her with one hand to kill them. Bunny just made a fist, and stood still. Maliks laughed. “How utterly dangerous.” He growled, “A Guardian stands and chooses not to fight her enemies, even when there are at least two more Eliksni who deserve to rot.” He gestured with the same hand at the bodies, they weren’t rotting quite yet, but Bunny could see their bodies were starting to degrade.

“I can only see one.” Narak said, hopping down from his perch, and pulling two blades from his belt. “One big one.” Maliks growled again, drawing his own swords. Bunny floundered, she was the strongest person in the gathering now, Light at her fingertips, she could have set the two offending vandals on fire, or imploded them, or electrocuted them to death, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. This was only partially her fight. “It’s not even going to defend you.” Narak added, gesturing at Bunny.

Bunny looked at Maliks, and he shook his head. She did her best to adopt the same expression she’d seen Ikora wear in the past, cold and harsh, judgmental. “He won’t need my help.” She said, “He’s a Captain, and—”

Phyrik spoke up now, leveling his weapon at Bunny, even if he knew it wouldn’t do much. “A _Captain_.” He spat, “And I’m Kell. He’s nothing more than a tool for Peridys. _Dregspit_.” Phyrik moved the gun to point it at Maliks, who’s eyes had narrowed, he was waiting for one of them to make the first move, either to absolve himself of any guilt, or because he thought they’d need all the help they could get. Bunny frowned.

“It is true,” Maliks said, “My sister is the better of us two, she is smarter, a born strategist. Yet, she is still my sister, and were it not for her, I would have cast you out as Salzen did.” That set Narak off, the slightly smaller vandal lunged, but Maliks was faster and stronger, caught him by his scruff as he side stepped, and held him up in one hand. Bunny hadn’t even managed to catch him swap the sword from his upper hand to his lower one. Maliks ripped the blades from Narak’s hands cutting his own palms to smear the vandal with blood. “Dregspit, you call me this, thinking you will bring me low. You are lucky I have not docked you both.” Phyrik seemed to be the more collected of the pair, but he looked rattled, perhaps now realizing that challenging the Captain had been a horrible idea.

Narak thrashed, and Maliks threw him into a tree, turning to cut him down. Phyrik lifted his gun again, seeing his chance, but was too slow to take it, and Bunny charged him, knocking the gun from his hands. Phyrik grunted as the Guardian hit him, “I thought you said he didn’t need your help!”

Bunny picked up the rifle and jammed it into the dirt, firing until it started to smoke, and then sparked in her hands. She scrambled back, but Phyrik was still in the way, and as its firing mechanism exploded, it launched shrapnel into his leg. He howled in pain, “Who said I was helping him?” She said, and backed off. Maliks had placed a foot on Narak’s chest to watch his Guardian. He stepped off Narak dismissively, and slit the vandals throat, muttering that he deserved less than that.

“Impressive.” Maliks said, wiping some of his own blood onto his chest, the cuts on his hands weren’t terrible, the bleeding was beginning to stop, and the smear of his red-violet blood on black carapace was spotty. Phyrik was still writhing in the dirt, clutching his leg. “It overheated?” Bunny nodded.

“It’s a line rifle, isn’t it? Standard gauss rifle technology, super heating a projectile through magnetic force.” Maliks nodded, pleased that she knew so much, but he figured the technology was common for Guardians. “With nowhere for the heat to go…” She gestured with her hands in a little explosion motion. “But, like I said, I didn’t do that to help you.” She smiled up at him, and Maliks felt a shiver of nervousness go through his body, she was just as dangerous as the pair of fools were claiming she was, and yet, she was on his side.

“Of course.” Maliks nodded, and stepped over to Phyrik, who had given up on his leg, and was just waiting. “You were always the more level-headed of the two, I’m almost disappointed.” He said, tilting the vandals head up with the tip of his blade under his chin. “Almost.” Maliks slashed Phyrik’s throat as well, and sheathed his swords, looking at his palms. “Mmn.” He rumbled, and Bunny tugged his arm gently, pointing Hemlock at the injuries. “… What is it going to do?” He asked, but Hemlock was already scanning the cuts, and using their restored power to stitch him up. Maliks grimaced, it felt like a hundred tiny needles poking the cuts, but he allowed it to happen, watching as his skin mended.

“I can’t do that very often.” Hemlock said, once the job was done. “So try not to get hurt.” It was scolding the Eliksni Captain, who looked at it in bewilderment, but Hemlock just floated back to Bunny, and vanished, now able to conceal itself once more.

Bunny examined his palms, there was just a small mark on one where the cut had been. Maliks closed his hands into fists, and she looked up, “About your sister… she doesn’t seem like the type to use you…” Maliks shrugged, prompting Bunny to frown.

“If she does, I don’t care, she protected me for years.” She wasn’t sure that made it any better. Maliks placed his recently healed hands on her shoulders. “She used you too,” He added, and Bunny’s frown turned into a scowl, “She does not see either of us as just our level of usefulness, she confided to me that she was so happy that there was another female on our skiff that she could speak to, one that wasn’t afraid of her. She’s aware that humans and Guardians in particular are highly dangerous, Light or not.” One of his hands moved to her cheek, “But… you must wish to go home.” He sounded sad now, and Bunny placed a hand over his. “The longer you stay, the more likely it will be that things become worse. And you have a Legion to destroy.” She hadn’t even thought of that.

Bunny shifted uncomfortably, “I wish you could come with me.” She said, “I’d feel a lot better about fighting Ghaul and his stupid Legion if you were with me, it— it’s ridiculously optimistic of me, but maybe it’d help somehow…” Maliks smoothed her robes out, and hugged her again. “I’ll stay another night, if that’s okay…” He nodded, “A-and after that, how am I supposed to find you again?”

“Mmn.” Maliks considered that, “I will think of something, for now let us return.” He didn’t give her a chance to stop him and insist he come up with something at that moment, scooping her up and allowing whoever was manning the controls to pull them back into the skiff. Peridys was waiting for them, all four of her hands clasped in front of her, “Peridys.” The female Eliksni smiled.

Bunny wiggled free of Maliks’ arms. “Presumably the thorns are dead?” She asked as Bunny straightened out her clothes. Maliks nodded, “… Good.” Peridys nodded to herself, and turned to ascend through the ship, saying nothing else. They stood for a moment, realizing that Peridys had orchestrated most of what had happened after the contest for the servitor.

Maliks chuckled, and Bunny scratched her cheek, she felt strange, being used as some kind of weapon by something that wasn’t the Traveler. “Damn scheming witch.” He said, “You are not upset by this, I hope.” He looked down at Bunny, who shrugged.

“I’m not sure… I wasn’t upset when you kidnapped me initially.” Maliks grumbled a bit, perhaps regretting his choice, “And I don’t think I’m upset now… But it is strange.” That was about all she could say about it. She followed Maliks up to his room again, and sat down on his bed, laying on her back. He hovered over her, looking at her curiously, “What?”

“Hush.” He growled, “I am admiring.” Bunny blushed, looking incredulous, as if she wasn’t convinced he was actually doing that, but Maliks pulled her up by her armpits and examined her hair, then her eyes. That felt quite invasive, his eyes were far more intense, glowing faintly, the way they were shaped. She squirmed under his gaze, and he sat back, making his decision. “Humans are very soft.” He said.

His hands set themselves on her body, as if desiring closeness without knowing how to exactly initiate it. “We haven’t got shells like you.” Bunny said, tapping on one of the bands of carapace on his fingers. She sat up and crawled over to sit next to his side, she understood his want for closeness, even if Maliks was still trying to come to terms with it. “But it makes it easier for cuddling like this,” She added, “Not that it’s difficult to cuddle you.”

“Mmn… why do humans need much physical contact?” He asked, “Eliksni are possessive of their mates, but… You are often holding onto my hands, or my front.” Bunny frowned at him a bit, and he snorted a bit, “I am not complaining, just curious.”

“It’s because that’s how we show affection.” She said, and wiggled a bit so she could sit on her knees. “Humans also kiss each other.” Maliks tilted his head, “You’ll have to take your helmet off for that.”

He reached up to take the helmet off, and set it on his lap. “What is it?” He asked, and Bunny shook her head, she was going to show him instead. She pulled him down slightly by the collar of his cloak, and pressed her soft lips against his very alien mouth. Maliks stayed very still, unsure of what he should be doing. He didn’t dislike the feeling, but it was foreign. Eventually he figured out what to do, somewhat, and kissed her back. When Bunny pulled away, she was grinning. “I don’t understand.”

She laughed. “It’s just something humans do to show affection.” His jaws clicked, and then he kissed her again, trying to decide what he thought of it. There was something very sweet about it, and Bunny seemed to like it, she giggled when he pulled away after that. He decided this kissing thing was quite good.

“Cute.” He said, pleased with himself, “Are there other things humans do for affection?” Bunny shrugged, explaining that a lot of what humans do, Eliksni do as well, cuddling, hugging, and biting. Maliks was surprised to learn that, but rumbled approvingly. “Biting leaves marks, thus you always have proof of love.” He said, nodding to himself. Bunny rolled her eyes, but settled against his side. “Will your human leaders be upset by the marks I have left?”

She shrugged, fiddling with part of his cloak, “I don’t know, if they are then that’s their problem not mine.” Maliks nodded. “It’s not like you’re biting them, after all.” That was a good point, he decided not to think about any potential consequences for her for his actions. She told him about other odd things humans did, Crimson Days, Dawning, and Festival of the Lost, where Guardians and civilians dressed up in masks and shared candy. That one confused him the most, but he didn’t get a chance to ask her more about it, remembering he still had a skiff to command.

Bunny was asleep when he returned, he looked at her for a while, peaceful, sleeping better than she had without her Light. Maliks settled down next to her, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger. Perhaps, he thought, by the time that Crimson Days holiday arrived, they would not have to be secretive, and he could give her the flowers she described as gifts.

He was briefly angry that she had to leave at all, but he had said she needed to fight the Legion, and that would mean separation. At least for a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of this chunk of writing, from chapter 2 until chapter 8, how did it get that long? Oh well!
> 
> Maliks will inevitably return, he probably needs to have a little story where he sweeps Bunny off her feet for Crimson Days and embarrasses her in front of Ikora and Zavala.


	9. Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snow, it's fluffy and cold and wet, kind of like dog kisses. Maliks doesn't understand snowball fights or snow angels. 
> 
> Set post Warmind, but it's so short and pointless that there are no spoilers! I just wanted to write something fun and ridiculous.

“Reminds me of your Earth Cosmodrome.” Maliks said, scuffing his foot in the snow, leaving a red-orange wound in it. Bunny was gathering the snow up in her hands. Maliks watched her suspiciously, he’d seen Guardians do that before, chasing one another with hard-packed balls of the stuff, throwing them as hard as they could— and usually someone would end up dead, but he could remember them all laughing when it happened. “Please do not throw that at me.” Maliks said, and his little Guardian looked up, she still had her helmet on, but he knew she had a cheeky grin on her face.

He could feel it.

She stood up, and with two snowballs, turned to him. “Why not? Scared I might hurt you?” He nodded, shying away from her a bit, but she only laughed, tossing one at him. His eyes went wide and he brought one of his swords up to defend, but the snowball just exploded into loosely packed clumps. “I didn’t pack them _that_ hard, dummy.” She said, and threw the other one at him. The second snowball smashed on his helmet, and Maliks growled disapprovingly as he shook snow from his shoulders and head.

“I am going to—” A third snowball hit his helmet. He sheathed his sword, and dove for cover, scraping snow together to make his own arsenal of snowballs. He gathered up an armful in his lower arms, and popped out from the rock he had been sheltering behind. Bunny was laughing, holding far fewer snowballs than he had. Maliks had the advantage. He hurled a few at her, and one caught her on the butt. She shrieked a laugh, and it echoed through the basin. “Try not to wake the Hive!” Maliks barked, narrowly ducking out of the way of another snowball.

This was ridiculous, he was supposed to be helping her with some nonsense about their Warmind, but instead, he was throwing snowballs at the Warlock, and she was jumping around, blinking from one rock to another, only for Maliks to preempt her and hit her with a snowball. She tripped on some ice and toppled over into a snowbank. Worried, he went over to her, and peered at her. The snow was soft enough she had sunk down into it slightly. Bunny was laughing, “Oops!” He pulled her up with one hand, and dropped a snowball on her head.

“Clumsy fool.” Maliks rumbled, but the little Warlock shifted, and jumped at him, knocking them both over into the snow. The Eliksni Captain roared in outrage, trying to right himself, but Bunny landed on top of him and he just laid there. “We are wasting time.”

She pulled her helmet off, shaking the snow off of it, and wiping the slowly melting snow from where it sealed to the rest of her armor. “Yes, but it’s not like we were in a terrible rush.” She had a point, and it was refreshing to see her so happy. “When it would snow in the City before, I’d make snow angels.” She said, climbing off him to find a bit of unmolested snow. She flopped over onto her back again, and Maliks sat up to watch her. Bunny spread her arms, waving them up and down in the snow, until the snow had been pushed in such a way to form simple looking wings. She did something similar with her legs to form some kind of skirt, and then blinked out of the spot, landing next to him.

“Do they serve a purpose?” He asked, but she shook her head, and frowned as snow fluttered from her hair, she’d forgotten to put her helmet back on. Hemlock put it back in her armory for now. “Do these serve a purpose?” He formed a small snowball, and once again she shook her head. “… I don’t think I’ll ever understand humans.” Maliks said flatly.

“It’s for fun.” Bunny responded, “Alright, alright.” She brushed the rest of the snow off her armor, and lifted her hands in surrender. “Let’s—” A snowball hit her in the stomach, and Maliks’ eyes were focused on her, he was pleased with himself. “… You.” Bunny dove for him, but he rolled out of the way, and scrambled off to find cover, remaking his small arsenal of snowballs. When he popped out of cover again, Bunny hurled one at his face, and it sent snow everywhere as it burst.

Bunny was laughing again, and managed to hit Maliks with another snowball before he threw two at once, and she yelled that he was cheating. “Just because you only have two hands does not make it cheating.” He shouted back, sidestepping a snowball— it hit one of his crew members, who just looked bewildered. Maliks handed the dreg a snowball, and pointed at Bunny, he was going to win this snow-war. She yelped in surprise as the dreg chased her out of her hiding spot, running straight into a volley of snowballs thrown by Maliks. She plopped onto her rear in the snow, and pouted at him as he dusted himself off. “ _That_ may have been cheating.” He admitted, and picked her up, brushing snow from her hair and shoulders. “I win.”

Bunny swatted at him gently, “You’re horrible!” She whined, and Maliks chuckled. “Fine, you win! Let’s go get this done so I can go take a warm bath… Jerk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously you don't want to get into a serious snowball fight with Eliksni, they can basically rapid fire snowballs.


	10. Pike Gang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maliks eavesdrops on his Guardian while she hunts down a particular Baroness, and finds out that his human-mate is definitely not cool enough to be in a pike gang...
> 
> Mild spoilers, described without many visuals as it's just Maliks listening to a comm relay, but it could be spoilery in some ways.

Bunny had made him promise that he would stay well away from the Shore until she dealt with Uldren’s Barons.

This was only the second or third one, he’d already lost count, something about a pike gang and modified pikes or something, he listened to his Guardian and her little Ghost talk while they worked, she had been forcing him to learn English anyhow, he could pretend this was educational and not just trying to shirk his duties.

Ralzyks could handle things while he eavesdropped.

He didn’t understand a word of what they were saying, just bits and pieces, but he could hear the roar of a pike, and Bunny’s laughter, that was reassuring, she seemed to be having fun.

Which was odd, wasn’t she doing this to avenge a fallen comrade? Perhaps he would have to steal a few of these pikes, and then he would be able to hear her laugh more often. “Let’s ride.” Hemlock chirped, and Maliks understood that, he grinned inside his helmet, far above the Shore, hidden in the asteroids. He supposed that a path of vengeance didn’t need to be serious all the time, riding a pike around looking for a Baroness with a pike gang certainly would have topped the list of things Maliks would want to tag along for.

He and Peridys had always caused trouble in their youth, stealing the pikes from their mothers crews, and racing them around the Cosmodrome, often only coming back with one, or none. He heard insane, unhinged laughter a short while later, that must have been the Baroness they were hunting, she sounded like someone Maliks might have gotten along with before she had gone crazy and become a Scorn.

He heard Bunny yelp in pain, and the unmistakable crunch of a pike hitting something, and winced. He couldn’t see what was happening, but he could hear pike guns and the sizzling noise of the sawblade throwers. More gunfire, laughter, and something that sounded like a scorch cannon, but surely— No, no, he scratched his neck idly, thinking more deeply about it, if this Baroness was so clever, she had probably found a way to mount a cannon to her pike.

Maliks decided he wanted that one.

“Oh— for the love of— yikes!” Bunny yelped again, frustrated and slightly panicked, Maliks wondered what was going on, was the Baroness winning? Surely not, Bunny was a Guardian, and more than that, she was much smaller and faster, both on foot and on a pike. Maliks had seen the way she rode the bikes the Guardians called ‘Sparrows’ around, whipping around corners and flying over gaps in the ground, twirling through the air like some sort of graceful metal falcon.

He heard a distinctive roar, a much louder one compared to the noise of the pikes he’d been hearing, that must have been the Baroness, she was laughing wildly mere seconds later, confirming his guess. “Stop shooting the spare pikes!” Bunny shouted, but the Baroness just laughed at her, and Maliks heard a distant explosion. Something about pikes, he squinted, as if that would help him figure out what was being said, perhaps Bunny was just hopping from pike to pike and they were being destroyed? Why would the Baroness destroy her own pikes?

Maliks opened his mouth to tell his Guardian to ensure a few of the pikes survived, but he realized he wasn’t even supposed to be eavesdropping, and stayed quiet. He would send Ralzyks down later to look for surviving pikes, they had lost theirs when the Legion had shown up, and Maliks was perhaps still a bit upset about that.

“Oh!” Bunny yelped again, and he heard her tumble through water, “Ouch, ouch— stupid— oh my g—!” He heard a snap, cannon shots, and then nothing, whirring noises— Had the Baroness defeated his little one? Maliks’ hands closed into fists. “Ugh!” Bunny gasped, “Well, now I’m mad!” So she had been defeated, but Hemlock had swooped out of the way in time to revive her someplace safe. The sound of fighting became much more intense, and Maliks tried to picture it, Bunny, astride a pike sized for someone twice her height, chasing down this horrid Baroness, leaving corpses in her wake— as no doubt the Baroness was calling in her goons to try and stop the Guardian, but to no avail.

Maliks heard a thud, and then there was silence. Hemlock said something he didn’t catch, but he did hear a name. Cayde, the name of Bunny’s fallen Vanguard. Maliks frowned, there was the small reminder that this was a path of vengeance, that there would be more death, more danger, until Cayde had been avenged. Maliks understood, he’d felt the same way when Aksis had destroyed his mother, but Peridys had ensured he didn’t throw himself to his doom.

“You know,” Bunny said quietly, and Maliks heard her climbing over things, probably making her exit from the area she had chased the Rider to. “As awful as that was, she was… pretty cool.”

“Are you serious?” Hemlock sounded judgmental. “She killed you!”

“Oh, so what? You’ve got my back.” Maliks recognized that tone too, Bunny was still a Guardian, despite her tendency to cry and run for his arms when she got scared. If he wasn’t there, she seemed to manage alright. “I just wish I could have taken her pike, it was neat!” Maliks heard his little Guardian doing poor impressions of guns firing, and worse impressions of the sound of a pikes engine, was she playing around?

“You’re insane.” Hemlock said, and Maliks understood that. He had to stifle a snort.

That was a sentiment he could agree with the little Ghost on, his Guardian was most definitely insane, and he loved her for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaviks is so cool, I love her.


	11. Data Requisition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're going back into the past, and Bunny's going to meet Mithrax while Maliks farts about on Earth unaware of what his Guardian is getting up to! This is transcribed not completely accurate to how the mission plays out in game, and more like how I felt it actually went for Bunny in particular.

_Just go in and chase them off, yeah right_ , Bunny thought, did Sloane have any idea how the Fallen actually operated? Chasing them off was near synonymous with ‘kill them’ when it came to Guardians. Granted-- she peered around a corner-- she did have a little bit more than just her gun to maybe help her chase them off in the literal sense. Maybe she could just ask them to leave? What if they told her to take a hike, though? She pushed a stuck door open, and stepped into a small control center for… something? Everything was so gummed up with Hive detritus that it was impossible to tell what it was. A familiar sounding hiss startled her out of her thoughts, and she pressed her hand against the cracked polycarbonate window.

A massive Captain, decked out in banners and gold painted armor, looked up from what he was doing as his crew motioned at the Guardian, trapped for the moment behind the glass. They finished up what they were doing, and the Captain signaled for his crew to make a swift exit through another door. “Just a bit too late, Guardian.” He said, though Sloane and Zavala wouldn’t know that. Bunny slammed a fist on the polycarbonate, wishing the cracks in it would give and she could stop him. He had no idea what he was messing with, how dead he would be if Sloane and Zavala decided to send a more _competent_ Guardian after him.

They only sent her because— the door beside her opened with a loud crack, snapping some of the Hive gunk off its gears as it rolled open. Bunny shook her head, they sent her because she volunteered, she had butted into the conversation and asked specifically to be sent alone after this Captain. And he was taunting her, she was going to slap him.

“They just… left.” Hemlock said, and Sloane sighed on the other end. Bunny examined the hastily constructed Fallen terminal, and Hemlock appeared to take a closer look. “Oh, looks like they just wanted data— that’s strange for them.”

“See what you can find.” Zavala said, and Bunny found a spot to sit while Hemlock worked. She wondered why the Captain had said anything to her, though she supposed he assumed she wouldn’t understand him, or wouldn’t care enough to translate what he had said, but why was she just a bit too late?

“Alright,” Hemlock beeped, “Everything the Fallen got, we’ve got.” Bunny slid off her perch, and the door she had come through slid closed. “Oh.” Hemlock disappeared back into her robes. She should have expected that, it was never as simple as it needed to be. The Hive had apparently been alerted to something in one of their spots, and Bunny had to find another spot to take cover from a bunch of angry thrall quickly. She punched her way through an acolyte, and set Hemlock to work on the door again, maybe it could force the locks.

Fortunately the Hive seemed to only be offering a token effort to remove her, and she climbed out of the disgusting control center. “We’re out, I hope this data’s worth it.”

“Come by when you can, we’ll take a look at what you got.” Sloane said, and Bunny had to wonder if Sloane was aware that she had pretty much just given her permission to do whatever she liked for as long as she liked, but, she went back towards the command center anyways.

Hemlock shut down their outside communication, “So…” It said, “What are you going to do if Sloane asks about what that Captain said?”

Bunny gave her Ghost a look, “I’m not gonna say anything about it, if she asks I’ll just shrug.” She said, and climbed up the side of part of one of the command centers buildings to hop a small gap to the door that lead back up to Sloane. “Besides,” Bunny said, pausing next to the door, “We did what she wanted, we ‘chased’ them off.” Bunny went up the stairs, and Hemlock floated next to her, delivering the data to Sloane.

The Deputy Commander sent her off without much else, and Bunny decided to just hang around, watching crews of Fallen pick apart the Arcology, or try to, they seemed to hit a lot of roadblocks— or… more accurately, Hive-blocks. She shot a Knight to death as it ran toward a Captain, who looked far less regal than the one she’d just run into, and the Captain looked up at her, taking aim at her with their gun, but she was just out of range, so they turned away, focusing on the other Hive they were fighting. Bunny found a spot to sit, and let her legs hang over the side, over the propane ocean.

“You’re already trying to find an excuse to make friends with that one, aren’t you?” Hemlock asked, hovering over her lap, “Isn’t one enough? Maliks is more than enough, even.”

“But…” Bunny had to admit, that was a good point, her… what was he? Boyfriend? They didn’t have a word for it in their language besides ‘mate.’ “What if Zavala, or Sloane, thinks that he’s a serious threat? He was looking for some kind of data, he’s obviously smarter than _some_ of the Captain’s we’ve encountered.” Hemlock watched her closely.

“I’m going to tell him you think he’s stupid.”

“Don’t you dare! He’s not stupid! He just values the strength of a fist over trying to talk his way out of things!”

“So he’s just like you.”

“Hemlock!” Bunny swatted at her Ghost, “I thought you were my partner! You’re so mean!” Hemlock twirled it’s shell at her, she had changed it since Maliks had given her one, stating that it was just too conspicuous to have a Ghost looking like a servitor. He had understood, but been just slightly annoyed by the choice, still, he would affectionately poke Hemlock from time to time.

She smiled at her Ghost, “I never said that was a bad thing! Both of you are sticks in the mud, though, I’m amazed either of you manage to ever get things done when you’re together.” Bunny snorted, they argued sometimes, that was true. Maliks didn’t like the idea of taking in more strays, not after Narak and Phyrik had tried to mutiny, and not after the loss of Ysyvkos, who had definitely deserved better, but Bunny often pressured him into it, didn’t they deserve to be part of a crew that wasn’t one of Salzen’s? Where they wouldn’t suffer? He usually just acquiesced and hauled the wounded dregs into his skiff, snarling at them that they were his crew now, and they had better make themselves useful.

“He knows I’m right, sometimes.” She said, watching the Captain she had saved from the Knight kick a thrall off the side of the rig, they turned to look at her again, and she waved, blowing a kiss at them. To her surprise, the Captain stood up a bit straighter, and then gestured rudely with two of their hands. Bunny frowned, though her surprise quickly faded, of course, why had she even tried that?

Hemlock shook itself, “Not all of them are going to be your friend.”

“I know.” She said, and got up. She didn’t have to sit there and be mocked by a Captain, who was now mimicking a dance that had no doubt been witnessed from another Guardian, and their crew was eating it up, hooting and hollering and laughing at her expense. She glided down to where she had initially climbed up from, and walked toward the Arcology itself, casually slipping past other crews and clusters of Fallen.

_Eliksni_ , she corrected herself, she could so easily separate Maliks and his crew from other Eliksni, but they weren’t Fallen. Fallen was… it sounded mean, harsh in her ears, a subtle insult. They were all Eliksni.

She slid into the shattered ceramic tiles, and climbed up to a spot where the Hive couldn’t reach her, sitting down to wait for Sloane or Zavala to call her back, and either explain the data she’d nabbed or something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there's some theories about what Mithrax actually said (something about guardian courage being quite dangerous, if the forums on the Ishtar Collective mean anything to anybody) but I've always thought of it as him taunting the Guardian. Plus, extra taunting from a random Captain on the rig.


	12. Distraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't let him distract you." Sorry, commander, but seeing a big regal Captain trapped in a little corner by human technology is about as distracting as it gets. Besides, Mithrax deserves to be admired, and when better to do that?

A few hours went by, Bunny spent some time digging around in the Arcology, looking for interesting Hive artifacts, if only to amuse herself. She wondered what Maliks was doing. After Ghaul had been taken care of, he’d told her to stay in the City, return to her roots, remember why she was a Guardian of the Last City, blah-blah-blah, poetics. She didn’t like his waxing poetic about why she was who she was, and who she was in the first place. 

But she listened to him, she knew he had been taking more and more risks because of her, standing up to people he would have otherwise simply followed the orders of, people who probably saw him as nothing but trash, an expendable resource, for wasn’t he the son of a dreg?

Bunny scowled as she poked her head into another one of the Arcology’s old apartments. Every single room she’d checked looked the same, filled with Hive gunk, smelling of mold and mildew and rot, with nothing interesting. “Guardian,” Sloane’s voice interrupted her angry thinking, “I had Holliday take a look at the data you you pulled. She says somewhere on this tub is a methane reactor, untouched since the Golden Age. The wave generators you restored cover our critical functions. But the more systems we bring online, the more power we need. If you can find that reactor, we'll finally be in the green.”

Hemlock responded for her, “Huh! That’s incredible, have you got any idea where we should start looking?”

“Come on back, we’ll fill you in.” Bunny peeled herself away from a rotting old book, and went back out through the shattered tiles. She was back to thinking about Maliks on the return trip to the command center. He’d been planning something, though he hadn’t said much to her about it. Sometimes she hated how cagey he was, but part of her knew it was because he still felt poorly about using her when they’d met.

Not that she cared anymore, hadn’t it been a good thing? He’d always somehow turned up when she needed back up, and then vanished until she was safely away from people who might want him dead. They’d even had a sort-of picnic on Nessus, Bunny had called it a date, and Maliks had complained the entire time about how human courting was stupid. She laughed at him.

She popped her head into the command center and just about choked on her breath when she spotted Zavala. “With your data, Holliday's been able to dig out the locations of two terminals in the reactors auxiliary system. They appear to be on the fritz.” He said, not missing a beat, “I see no reason why you can’t handle this yourself.”

Sloane nodded as Bunny stepped over to the table, “All you’ve got to do is cycle the power, that should clear up the noise and restore the core systems as well.”

“Right.” Bunny said, and they sent her off with a ‘good luck’ and nothing more.

Finding the terminals was easy enough, Sloane had given her the exact locations for them, and she flipped a few circuit breakers, dusting off some old screens as the first one turned on. That had been nice and easy, no one had even tried shooting at her, what a change that was. “Cycling power.” Hemlock said, as the screen before them showed the systems coming back online. “Let’s find the other one.”

She did have to deal with a few angry Hive before finding the second terminal, but repeated the flipping of circuit breakers and the dusting of an old screen. Watching it closely as words she sort of understood flew by like someone had sped the credits portion of an old Golden Age movie up on the screen. “That’s two…” Hemlock said, and then the screen went dark. “Wait, devices that require multiple, separate activations?” It sounded incredulous, Bunny didn’t quite grasp what her Ghost was getting at. “Aren’t those… you know, really dangerous?”

“Did I say the reactor was safe?” Sloane sounded amused.

“And here I was thinking you liked us, Sloane.” Hemlock teased.

Zavala chuckled, “The people Sloane likes tend to wind up in crossfire in indefensible positions. Ask me how I know.” Bunny smiled a bit, and gestured at her Ghost not to ask.

“All right. With those terminals refreshed, we've pinpointed the reactor's bootup console. Light 'em up.” Sloane said, further stopping any long winded story-telling by Commander Zavala.

Bunny went back into the Arcology, and back through the same old ceramic tile wall, skipping past some Hive— she didn’t really want to deal with more of them, she’d been poking around their nests for a while already.

Sliding down into the darkness in the Arcology, she landed in front of a dreg, who yelped and swiped at her with its dagger. Bunny stumbled back a bit as her shields crackled. “Rude.” She said, and shooed the dreg away when it just looked at her, confused because she hadn’t shot it dead on the spot.

There was a shimmery blue barricade between her, and a whole bunch of Hive thralls, and the two dregs who had been wrestling with a console. They watched her look at it, wondering aloud why the Guardian hadn’t shot them. She looked at them, squinting through the dark at their glowing eyes. One of them took a step forward, and Bunny stepped back, she wasn’t going to talk to them… maybe. “Huh, Golden Age safety checkpoints. Still operational too.” Hemlock chirped, examining the console, and robbing Bunny of her flashlight as it did.

Bunny looked at the group of thrall now, and sighed, “Can you kill them?” She asked the dregs, gesturing at the thrall, and both dregs scrambled away from her, “Or… I guess just stay out of the way.” That was fine too. She nodded at Hemlock, and her Ghost disabled the checkpoint, releasing the thrall, who came screaming toward her like some sort of horrifying mass of rotten flesh. She didn’t bother using a gun, smacking each of them to death when they jumped at her, and the dregs peeked out from their hiding spot, but didn’t try to help her.

With that out of the way, Bunny slid down the ramp further into the room, and paused when she heard a growl. “Hey, look who it is! The Captain. And it looks like he's stuck…” Hemlock said, choosing its words carefully, it was in striking range of its Guardian, and if it played the jerk card, Bunny might flick it into a Hive pod.

“Don’t let him distract you.” Zavala said, and Bunny felt her cheeks turn hot. She had done her best to keep her fascination with the Eliksni hidden from Zavala, but he was ancient compared to her, and probably had seen this many times before. She was glad it was dark.

Directly disobeying that order, she went up to the remaining barrier, poking it, but it was solid— or, sort of solid? It was just some sort of projection, but solid enough to keep the Captain behind it, and the thrall too. “Am I late this time?” She asked, and the Captain glared at her, “I can find a way to let you out.” She said, and Hemlock sighed.

“I do not want nor need your help.” The Captain snarled at her, and she lifted both hands in a surrendering motion. She pressed her hand against the barrier again, and he watched her, cautious, but curious, a look Maliks sometimes had on his face when she was doing her odd human things, like touching his hands. This Captain didn’t do much else, standing with two vandals in his little prison.

Bunny gave up, and turned around, spotting the dregs in the darkness, watching her. She ignored them, and went to the console. Hemlock directed her with what to do, pressing this part of the screen, and then that part, and then the first part again. Eventually it beeped loudly at them, and Bunny jumped back, surprised.

In another, but decidedly human, language that she didn’t understand at all, the console came to life, and a barrier went up around where she was, before disappearing where the Captain was. She pressed both hands against it while he and his crew made their way to a door. “Hey!” She shouted at him, “I told you!” He paused, looking at her, and then bowed. Bunny stumbled back. Not even Maliks had ever bowed to her, and she didn’t know how to respond to that.

Hemlock was working on getting her out of her prison now. She watched the door shut, the Captain shifting his gun in his hands as he watched her. The barrier soon dropped, “We’re free, let’s get out of here.”

“Easily done.” Sloane said, unaware of what had transpired in the dark, Hemlock had kept their outside communications off when they’d gone down into the Arcology, worrying about the Hive finding them— at least, that was the excuse. “Now all we have to do is get to it before the Fallen do. Should be easy. Right?”

Bunny wondered if she should have told Sloane not to jinx it.


	13. An Obvious Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally Bunny is going to do something useful with herself and secure a power source for the Rig on Titan, at least that's the plan. We're not quite done with Mithrax yet after this, though!

Sloane had called her back to the command center for debriefing, and Bunny had pointedly avoided mentioning anything about the Captain other than what Hemlock had said when they’d found him trapped down there. “Well. Thanks to you, the reactor is online and we know just where it is.” She beamed at the Guardian.

“The only problem remaining is that Captain, he’s been one step ahead of us the entire time.” Zavala said, leaning on the table, Bunny was a little bit glad to see the Vanguard getting out of the City still, though Ikora seemed to be the defacto commander when Zavala wasn’t there.

“So,” Hemlock twirled it’s shell, “We do this fast, no problem.”

“Don’t jinx it.” Bunny said, and Zavala chuckled. They went back to the Arcology, finding the Arboretum filled with Eliksni, and Hive of course. Bunny blinked, they were really keen to grab that reactor. “Wow.” She said, and gestured for Hemlock to shut off outside communication. At that same moment, Bunny looked up, and inhaled a long breath. There was a ketch, that meant this Captain was something else, maybe a Baron instead of a Captain, that wasn’t good. “You see that?” She pointed up toward the ketch, Hemlock had been busy looking around, amazed at the fighting happening. Neither the Hive nor the Eliksni had noticed them yet.

“Yeah. That’s… something. What do you think?”

“I think I underestimated him a little bit…” Hemlock zipped in close, staring at her.

“You? Underestimate a Fallen? That’s not like you!” Bunny frowned at her Ghost.

“We’re gonna play this careful, Hemlock. Real careful.” Bunny was very careful, avoiding the fighting, and pausing as they went toward a hallway doused in green light. There he was, the Captain, or Baron, or something, standing tall with swords in his hands. She had to admit, it was a fantastic thing to see. He looked up at her, and she thought he might have been grinning in his helmet, but she was staying at a distance for now, not exactly eager to run in there and try to befriend him.

“… Are you gonna say something?” Hemlock asked quietly, but as Bunny stepped forward into the hallway, the Captain took off running. “Oh.” She rolled her eyes, maybe he was toying with her, but playing tag seemed fine, no one would die, maybe. The green-lit hallway gave way to blue and then red lights, and Bunny winced as a vandal shot a cursed thrall in close quarters. The explosion caught him and a dreg, and they died. “Ouch.” Hemlock said, “That had to hurt.”

“No kidding.” She knew that feeling, stinging, horrible pain, but she lived every time it had happened to her. Shortly after they found a servitor, and a barrier. “Well that’s not helpful.” Bunny tried to get close to it, Maliks had shown her how to disable the servitors without destroying them, but this one was particularly nimble, and shot its strange weapon at her much too close for her liking. Giving up on that, she just destroyed it, and the barrier went with it.

The Captain’s crew seemed to be making short work of the Hive, though, and the further down they went, the less Hive they saw, walking uncontested through the Arcology. Hemlock said they were in another residential area, there were bizarre glass-floored fountains, looking down into other levels of more apartments. Bunny thought she might have liked to live there, maybe more than Venus, but that was just a thought.

There was a faint ticking, and then a shriek, “Watch out!” Hemlock beeped, right as Bunny looked up to see a group of exploder shanks coming toward her. She skipped back a few steps, yelping as they zoomed toward her, and shot them, hoping to catch multiple in one explosion. It sort of worked, at least, it worked enough for her to continue down, and find two servitors guarding another barrier. This time she didn’t even try to shut them down without destroying them, and hurled a Nova Bomb at them, sorting them out in short order. “Nice.” Hemlock said, “Er, well, not nice, I know you don’t want to do that, but…”

“It’s fine.” She said, servitors were a dime a dozen, especially small ones like that. “Let’s just… keep…” Bunny trailed off, as a much larger servitor descended from where it had been floating high above the rather fancy hallway they’d come into. “Um.”

Hemlock turned the outside communications back on, “Sloane… Why would the Fallen want the reactor anyway?” It asked, and Bunny backed up, finding somewhere to hide while Hemlock asked its stupid question.

“For Ether production, probably. They hook up a big Servitor to it, they double or triple output. Why do you ask?” Sloane seemed to be none the wiser to the Prime that was just waiting to disintegrate Bunny beyond the doorway.

“Oh,” Hemlock said, as casually as it could manage, “No reason.” And with that, the Ghost turned off outside communication again. “So uh, are you gonna try to put it to sleep?”

Bunny nodded, she just had to figure out how to get close to it first. She stepped back into the larger hallway, and the servitor beeped and roared at her. The arena it had chosen was definitely better suited for it, there wasn’t much cover, but Bunny managed to climb up the walls, and hopped onto its back. Selkis, the servitor spun wildly, and flung the Guardian off to the floor. Alright, she thought, not surprised it wasn’t going to be as easy as that. She danced around its weapons firing, putting little shanks out of their misery with her fist, so that they could be repaired later, and climbed up the walls again.

This time she caught on a bit of metal that wasn’t almost entirely smooth, and bashed open the back of the servitor, hanging on for dear life as it tried to shuck her again, but she kept her grip, and started to pull the servitor apart, ripping out wires and chunks of metal. It started to fumble in the air, and finally she got to the part she needed to— and would have liked to not rip it apart to get to, but she supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers in a situation like this one.

A few shots in the core, and the servitor made a loud burping sound before hitting the floor. They’d be able to repair it later. She slid down its side, and ran toward the now opened hallway, careening right into a Hive acolyte, and a vandal who was fighting it. She punched the acolyte out of reflex, and ducked away from the vandals attempt to hit her in with its gun.

Bunny slid down a ramp, and landed with a thud, just in time to see the Captain get kicked in the chest by a Knight. A scene of deja vu played in her head, hadn’t she witnessed almost the exact scene before her not even a day ago? Bunny got to her feet, “Get out of the way!” She yelled at the Captain, and he did so without question, ducking behind a steel pillar to nurse his bruised ego. Bunny slammed into the Knight with all the force of a child, and was summarily knocked back into the same pillar the Captain was hiding behind. She heard him grunt, and Bunny scrambled to her feet, putting herself between the Captain and the Knight.

The Knight gestured at her, like he was asking the Guardian to run at him again, so he could throw her into something else, but Bunny wasn’t easily taunted without there being at least some sort of poorly thought out comment, or rude gesture. “Idiot.” The Captain said from his hiding spot, but he didn’t come out to try and help her either, perhaps thinking better of it, but now he was aware that she had understood him before.

Bunny pulled her handcannon from her belt, and flung a grenade at the Knight, who knocked it away, but it exploded on impact with his hand, and took it clean off. “I’m not an idiot.” She said, and once the Knight had finished hollering about his hand, he charged her. Bunny stepped aside, and stuck a foot out, tripping the Knight. He landed with a thud, and she unloaded her gun into his head.

The Knight crumbled to dust, as the Hive tended to do, and the Captain skulked out from behind the pillar. Bunny replaced her gun on her belt, and watched him get to his feet, “Why?” He asked, gesturing at the Knight, “You have no intention of doing the same to me?” Bunny shook her head. The Captain crossed his arms at her, he had a few major injuries bleeding all over his gear, but didn’t seem concerned. “Take the reactor then. Consider it… a thanks.”

“But—” Bunny reached out to try and stop him, but he flinched back, “Who are you?”

The Captain looked at her curiously, the same way he had looked at her when she’d pressed her hands against the barrier before, trying to get him to do something, but he didn’t know what. He mimicked her reaching, and stepped toward her, letting his hand meet hers. Bunny looked up at him, surprised. “Mithrax, the Forsaken.” He said, and then stepped away from her, bowing again, this time crossing his hands in a fashion. Bunny watched him call for a transmat out of the depths of the Arcology, and she heard the servitor a couple levels above her groan back to life, and then it was silent.

She stood there for a few seconds, absorbing what had happened. _Mithrax._

“Hey, Sloane, you'll never guess what happened!” Hemlock was already celebrating.

“You… killed a Captain and found a reactor?” She asked, and Bunny wrested the reactor out of its spot, letting Hemlock warp it back to her ship for delivery.

“Better!” Hemlock chirped, “We didn't kill him! He let us have it. Just looked at us and left.” Bunny eyed her Ghost, that was just a bit too obvious, but Sloane just laughed, sounding impressed. Bunny started her long walk out, needing a bit more time to process Mithrax and his decision to let her take something that could have easily saved his people, without even a second thought, and because he felt like he owed it to her? She thought of Maliks, she shouldn’t have butterflies in her stomach because of anyone but him, but…

“Fascinating! This is an excellent example that the universe is… a complicated place. That perhaps there are more things in the heavens than can be dreamt of in our philosophy.” Zavala said, and Bunny tripped, landing on her face. She pushed herself up, eyes wide, to hear Zavala acknowledge it like that. She broke into a run, hoping to catch the ketch leaving its parking spot in the Arboretum.

She made it back up in time, and watched it leave. “Wow.” She said quietly.


	14. Scorch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Bunny off doing things for the right side of wrong, a particular Baron and annoyance in Maliks' life attempts to not so discreetly deal with him. Maliks decides instead to loudly deal with the Baron in a foolish way.
> 
> Warning for violence. Primary focus on eliksni and house politics upcoming.

Peridys watched her brother pace, Salzen was instructing them to salvage what they could from an abandoned district in the City. Maliks wanted nothing to do with the orders, he had shouted that he valued his life and surely there was someone who was dumb enough to agree to do it, why didn’t Salzen ask them instead? Salzen only laughed and said that was why he was asking Maliks.

She knew what was coming. A grudge long held would soon be cut down to fit into the incinerator, along with a dead thing. “Buh-nee will not be pleased if you go without her to your death.” Peridys said quietly, watching Maliks try every single one of their line rifles in his hands, they had thirteen of them, enough for a much larger crew, thirty shock pistols and forty-eight arc daggers, plus eleven arc blades, three shrapnel launchers, and one scorch cannon. “And then she will kill Salzen herself, and nothing will be accomplished, she will never come to us again.”

“I know.” Maliks said, weighing one of the shrapnel launchers in his hands, he slid it into the sling on his back. “I would rather he be dead, no matter of how he dies.” Two daggers, two swords, four pistols, each loaded with twelve shots each so he didn’t need to stop and reload. He looked at the scorch cannon, considering it, “If he is dead, he cannot send more of us to our deaths on foolish missions.” He picked it up, and added it to his growing armory.

Peridys watched her stubborn brother shift, and then he did something she hadn’t expected. He removed his bandolier, the slings with their guns, the swords from his belt, and stripped, digging into one of the storage containers. They had both saved some of their old gear when the Houses fell, though neither of them had felt as though they were less for wearing scraps and rags, Maliks was going to send a message.

She helped him with the old armor, securing it to the suit, and held the cloak as he looked at his old helmet. “Please, for your human-mates sake, try not to get killed. I will kill you a second time if I have to deliver this news to her.” She knew it was useless to try and stop him, he would have locked her in the helm and left her to be let out by Ralzan or Ralzyks upon their return from hunting, and Peridys had her own business to take care of. Maliks looked at her oddly, his jaw clicking as he opened it to ask her how she would kill a dead man, but then shook his head and pulled the helmet on. Peridys placed the cloak around his shoulders, almost ceremonially.

“Yes, yes.” Maliks said, “I will return with his ketch.” He looked up at his sister, having knelt to let her place the old banners around his shoulders. He stood, remembering when Bunny advised him to stop slouching, and so he did. Peridys tilted her head at him, “If I don’t, tell Ralzyks… and…” Maliks didn’t finish the sentence, Peridys knew what he had been about to say, tell Bunny that he loved her. Maliks put his hand on his sisters shoulder, squeezed it once, and left their skiff, armed to the teeth.

The walk through the EDZ felt like he was trekking through the snow again, cold, but not freezing, heavy, but not tired enough to justify sitting down. A few Guardians spotted him, but seeing the red banners of the old House stunned them enough that the only thing one of them did was knock on their Titan friends head to catch his attention and turn it toward the Captain.

Maliks inhaled, they had stolen a few large tanks of ether, Salzen had cut them off further from a reliable supplies, but Maliks and Ralzyks had no qualms about stealing from their own House. He felt ready, ready to end Salzen’s life. Or ready to die, he wasn’t sure. No one stopped him as he climbed though the ruined human buildings toward Maevic Square, and the only reactions he got were stares as he approached Salzen’s ketch, hovering dangerously close to the ground, insanely close to the human controlled areas of the EDZ. “Maliks?” A dreg popped out of a vehicle, leaning through a window. “What’s with the outfit? Where’d you get it?”

“Special occasion.” Maliks said evenly, “I’ve had it for a long time. Is Salzen on the ketch?” The dreg nodded, and Maliks waved slightly as he walked by another group of stunned crew members. One of Salzen’s lapdogs was in the staging area when Maliks climbed aboard, adjusting his cloak with a flourish.

“What do you think _you’re_ doing here?” She asked, not even acknowledging the banners he was draped in.

“I’m here to see Salzen.” He said, and before she could react, he had pulled one of the pistols from his bandolier and shot her dead. He picked up one of his swords in his other hand, leaving the lower two free, and continued. The shot had echoed through the ketch, which meant they knew he was coming now, but still had the advantage as they had no idea who was shooting. A few lower ranked members of Salzen’s crews shot out into the hallway leading up to the throne room, and an alarm started to blare in the ship. He cut down the starved dregs and wretches with his sword, firing at the vandals and marauders as they came, and left a trail of bodies leading up to the throne room.

Salzen was standing when he entered, a foot taller than Maliks, and for once he had his helmet on. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” He asked, striding down from his throne, “Coming here, killing my crew, wearing this…” Salzen gestured with his upper hands, the lower two resting on his hips. “This old fools get-up… You look ridiculous.” Maliks had a very short frame of time to cross the room and seal it before Salzen’s crew could mount a counter attack against him. He lunged, rolling as Salzen went to try and grab him, shoving his sword into the thrones control pad, forcing the throne room to lock itself down. “Hm.” Salzen said, turning to watch Maliks get back to his feet, wrenching his blade from the throne.

“I am here to send a message.” Maliks said, and replaced the pistol on his bandolier, taking his second sword from his belt. “To you.” Salzen pulled his swords from his own belt, and they stared one another down. Salzen was the first to attack, leaping at Maliks with his blades raised, bringing them down as he closed the gap between them, but Maliks parried, and managed to force him left, sending him stumbling. Salzen whipped around and grabbed Maliks by his cloak with one of his lower hands, about to rip through it with one of his swords, but Maliks twisted and pulled the fabric from his hands.

They circled each other, “What kind of message is there to send?” Salzen scoffed, “You continue to try and be someone you will never be, it would be best if you were docked. After all, that is your birthright.” Maliks didn’t react, Bunny always told him that his worth was something he could decide, and Maliks had decided he was worth more than Salzen, he was going to let him take the initiative again. “Hmm.” Salzen purred, “Nothing to say? You truly are less than dirt.”

He was hoping to catch Maliks off guard, lunging, blades forward, to pierce the armor and undersuit he’d put on for this occasion, but Maliks dodged, and Salzen’s swords stuck into a metal bulkhead, he let them go, but not in time to get away from the dreg-born Captain, who’s elbow connected with his less protected back, and who kicked Salzen’s legs out from under him. He toppled, slamming his helmeted face against the bulkhead, which dislodged one of the swords. Maliks kicked him again, forcing Salzen onto his front. He stood on his back, and turned one of the swords in his hands, Maliks was about to stab the blade into the back of Salzen’s neck, but the Baron finally managed to push himself up, and Maliks had to jump back to stay on his feet. 

The Baron grabbed the only sword that had come loose and threw it, but Maliks knocked it away with one of his gauntlets, he sheathed one of his own swords and lunged, grabbing Salzen by his cloak. He might have been far taller than Maliks, but Maliks had the advantage of speed. After all, he’d been keeping up with a Guardian for a whole year, and she could move fast. Salzen, who had foolishly tossed his only weapon braced himself, but once Maliks set him on his feet, the Captain’s hand moved to one of his wrists. He yanked hard, and the remaining blade arced up in an elegant motion, only for Salzen to realize what was about to happen, and sacrifice his footing to kick Maliks away.

He staggered back, reorienting his momentum to swing forward and try to stab the Baron, but Salzen ducked and rolled left. He managed to get to his thrown sword, and didn’t wait for Maliks to face him before he was on the Captain again. Salzen forced him to the floor, but Maliks squirmed, if he stopped, it would give the Baron a chance to stab him, and he had promised Peridys he wouldn’t get himself killed.

“You aren’t—” Salzen grunted, trying to force him to stop wriggling. “Even worth… the effort!” He elbowed Maliks in the back of the head, but the helmet was of a better make and Maliks just made a noise of annoyance when the faceplate bounced off the metal floor.

“Then why are you trying so hard?” Maliks retorted, and freed his upper hands to push himself up, and roll. He elbowed Salzen in the gut, and managed to pin him, he gripped Salzen’s helmet, and yanked it apart breaking it at the welds. Salzen yelped in alarm, but Maliks kept him pinned. He made a fist, and brought it down hard on the Baron’s face. Salzen managed to toss him shortly after, but spit blood and a few sharp teeth. “Truthfully,” Maliks said, slightly winded, but he still had his helmet on, “You could just give up, walk into the lake and drown yourself. That would be much easier.” Salzen growled, and Maliks felt a slight tinge of pride, he’d managed to get under the Baron’s carapace, bringing up the matter of swimming.

He was briefly grateful that his mother had been more practical than most, but the moment was scarce five seconds as Salzen charged, meaning to tackle Maliks to the ground again. Maliks managed to stay upright, but his feet slid across the floor, and he had to strain to remain standing against Salzen’s considerable weight. He wondered if Spider was heavier or not. “I’ll have your sister.” Salzen growled, “I’ll string her up and let my crew have their way.” Maliks’ eyes narrowed, “And then I’ll cut her in half from her slit to her skull.” Maliks arched his head back, and rammed his helmet against Salzen’s unprotected skull.

The move staggered them both, but it got Salzen off him, and Maliks pulled the shrapnel launcher from his back, using it first as a club to smack Salzen back when the Baron recovered. Salzen scrambled for his swords, and Maliks’ first shot connected mostly with the floor of the ketch, causing a hissing noise as the molten metal joined the plate floor. “You’d be dead before you could lay a hand on her.” He said quietly, advancing on Salzen, who had not opted to run for the two scorch cannons hung on the wall just behind his throne. “I want you to suffer, but she would just want you dead.” Maliks fired again, and Salzen winced as one of the slugs of metal found its mark in his chest plate. He had to make a choice, maybe they could even the playing field with the cannons, after all, Maliks had brought his own.

Salzen attempted to steer the Captain away from the wall he was backing Salzen up against. “She wouldn’t have a chance to kill me, with you out of the way, she will have seven fools to command, and I have over one hundred.” Maliks watched him closely, and as Salzen turned, he swiftly replaced the launcher on his back, grabbed his swords, and grabbed one of the Barons upper arms again. This time his blade came down with force, and the limb was severed with ease. Salzen howled in pain, dark blood shooting from the stump to drench Maliks. The Baron staggered away, hastily ripping a shred from his cloak to use as a makeshift tourniquet. Maliks tossed the arm to the floor with a wet thud. “Y-you!” Salzen snarled.

“I told you, I want you to suffer.” Maliks said, and walked toward him again, ready to even out how many arms Salzen had left. The Baron scrambled to his feet, and with his less dexterous hands, grabbed one of the shrapnel launchers from the wall. He threw it at Maliks, who caught it in the chest and face, and was forced to stop to reorient himself. That gave Salzen enough time to pick up the second one and fire it at the Captain, but with the less raggedy armor, all it did was send him stumbling back a few steps, wincing in pain as he scraped some of the molten metal from his chest plate with the blade on his gloves.

Maliks didn’t immediately go for his cannon, or the one that Salzen had attempted to use as a projectile, instead sticking with his swords. He forced Salzen to match his movements, not giving him any opportunity to fire the weapon, until his smaller size gave him a window of opportunity to knock the cannon from his hands, bring his helmeted head up hard under Salzen’s chin, and knee the Baron in his gut as he fell.

Salzen choked up some more blood, but this had only made him angrier. How dare this dreg-born Captain lay him low. He was the son of Baron Nylaks of Devils, his mother was Baroness Ibrovis of Winter, he was better than Maliks, whose only claim to any sort of status was that his mother had been soft and shielded him from the truth of his birth. He was going to set this wayward child straight. He charged again, and ripped one of the swords from Maliks’ hands as he met the Captain, roaring indistinctly as he drove the blade into Maliks’ torso, trying to yank it up, just the way he had seen the fools human-mate do so many moons ago.

That thought forced a pause, Salzen staring at Maliks, and Maliks attempting to wrest himself from beneath the Baron. If the human-mate found out who killed Maliks, he was a dead man. There would be no escaping her wrath. He had seen her fight at her full power, enveloped in violet, shrieking Light, that seemed to warp reality around her body, around her fists. She was a monster, and Salzen ripped the sword from Maliks’ chest. “Perhaps I will flay your little human, and since I am feeling merciful…” He said, catching his breath, the tourniquet was not quite working so well, “I will let you watch as I do so, over and over and over again, until I grow bored and crush her Ghost in my hands.”

Maliks smeared his own blood across his helmet as he adjusted his armor. “I’d like to see you try.” Maliks said, and adjusted his grip on the sword he still had. If Salzen managed to survive long enough to kill Bunny once and his own life was hanging in the balance, he would be impressed. “You barely know how to fight me, let alone a Guardian.”

Salzen scoffed, shifted, and lunged again, severing one of the connections from Maliks’ ether tanks to his helmet. The Baron pierced the tank, and Maliks unhooked it to throw it at the Baron before it burst. He knocked it away with the stolen sword, and it left a sizable dent in a wall when it did burst. Salzen managed to get Maliks pinned again, and severed the other connection, sticking the sword where the armor sealed to the suit, but Maliks freed one hand and jammed his fingers into the stump of Salzen’s arm. Maliks hauled himself to his feet while Salzen writhed on the ground, and kicked the sword from his hand.

The Baron grunted, and grabbed Maliks by his legs, forcing him to topple onto the floor. Salzen snagged the shrapnel launcher from the Captain’s back, and got to his feet, firing a few shots into the Captains chest. Maliks groaned, the suit wasn’t going to stand up to much more than that, and his armor had been weakened considerably, but Salzen wasn’t finished yet. He tossed the gun aside, and pinned Maliks to the floor with his weight, ripping the helmet off. He grabbed the dagger from Maliks’ bandolier and went to try and slit his throat, but it only worked about half as well as he hoped. Despite everything, Maliks was still fighting, and he grabbed the dagger by its blade, forcing Salzen’s hand away from his throat. The dagger cut through the glove and his suit, and Salzen punched him with the only arm that remained attached to his right side.

Maliks released the blade, and Salzen stabbed him, but instead of going for the neck or his head, he stabbed Maliks in the torso again, and then yanked the blade out and stabbed him again, and again, and again, until Maliks spat blood into Salzen’s face, and grabbed the tourniquet to pull it off, and shove the blade on his glove into the open wound.

Salzen roared in pain, scrambling away from Maliks to tie his arm again, and Maliks rolled onto his feet, they were both getting tired, and with as many stab wounds as he had now, they were on even ground. Salzen slowly got up, wheezing. “I’ll kill you.” He snarled, “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill your sister, I’ll kill that disgusting dead thing you call your mate.” He lurched forward, hauling up his dropped scorch cannon, Maliks grabbed his, and they aimed at one another. “I’ll wipe your mothers name from history.” Maliks growled, he didn’t care if Salzen tried to hurt him, or Peridys, or even Bunny, the three of them could handle him, but no one would threaten the memory of his mother that way. He didn’t bother to fire the cannon, and instead charged, swinging it at Salzen. The cannon connected first with Salzen’s, knocking it into the Baron and then to the floor, so Maliks swung again, and this time it hit him in the side of the head. He used the cannon like a club until the Baron’s face was almost pulverized, and when he heard Salzen wheeze over the sound of shattering bone and carapace, he stopped.

“The only one who will be wiped from history is you.” Maliks snarled, and tossed his cannon aside, picking up one of his swords as the doors were finally forced open by Salzen’s crew, just in time to watch Maliks slit his throat with the blade. Salzen gurgled blood, his face partially caved in, and died on the floor. He collapsed into the throne, and stared at the crew as they entered the room, weapons ready, but they had seen their leader die. “You may go.” Maliks said, “If you would prefer not to remain under my command.” A few took off immediately, and gradually larger groups broke off from each of the sides of the room, running from the beast in the throne room. A pair of females approached him with bandages and medical supplies, he acknowledged them with a nod and let them patch him up, Ralzan would have words for him later. “How many Captains?” He asked the room, his eyes shut on his throne.

“Just one…” Said a nervous sounding voice. He opened two of his eyes, “And she left.” Maliks nodded, sort of, the females who were attending to his wounds didn’t let him move too much.

“Fine. Clear the ship of anyone hiding with malicious intent. Tell those hiding out of fear they are free to leave if they wish. I have no intent to maintain his policies.” Finally they decided he wasn’t in danger of slowly bleeding out, and one of them retrieved his helmet from where it had landed, helping him reattach the connections to his remaining ether tank. She went to sit with him, but he gently pushed her away. “I also have no intent of taking any females aboard as mates.” The room was silent.

“… but… why?” Asked the same female he had just rejected in front of what was now his crew. Maliks looked at her, he just wanted to sit, catch his breath, and send orders to the helm for directions.

“I have a mate, she is a human.” There was a ripple of confused murmuring. “I do not need any more females.” The girl looked offended, and sulked off. Gradually the throne room emptied, until a few of the bolder members that had remained offered to help him with getting the ketch back to normal. He accepted, and let them take care of delegating the tasks of cleaning up his trail of death, but asked them to leave Salzen’s corpse for a time. He sent his orders to the helm, and then ascended to it, watching the ground move by beneath them through the exterior cameras. His skiff came into view, and he took over the controls to bring the ketch in close.

He could see Ralzyks and Peridys below, and hurried down to descend to the ground. As he landed, he heard his sister shout in joy, and was soon struggling to stay upright as she hugged him tightly. “You absolute utter fool of a brother!” She shouted into his face, angry with him, but relieved. He patted her back, extracting himself from her stranglehold after murmuring that he had some injuries she was disturbing. That sent her off hollering about his lack of ability to strategize and calling for Ralzan. Maliks winced, preparing to get chewed out for his behavior. Ralzyks approached a bit more slowly, looking him over.

“That’s a big ship.” Ralzyks said, as if he’d never seen a ketch before.

“The skiff is yours.” He said, fighting the urge to clap his blood brother on the shoulder in celebration. “Salzen’s only Captain abandoned the ketch, I don’t know if it was before or after I killed him.” Ralzyks made an impressed sounding noise, and the only member of his crew that was younger than he was moved in for his hug.

“Your sister is right.” He said, after having gotten his fill of Maliks squashing him. “You are incredibly stupid, and when she told me what you were doing, I thought I ought to give you a piece of my mind if you got back, you know.” Ralzyks made a fist, “To knock some sense into your skull.” Maliks raised his hands in defense of himself, but Ralzyks just lightly punched him in the arm. “Your sister will kill you first if you try that again.”

“I know.” He said, and crouched a bit as Ralzan stormed up to him and slapped him across the face plate of his helmet. Maliks grumbled, but the medic didn’t say a word, marching him back into the ketch, to the much larger and better equipped medical bay within it, where he forced Maliks to strip, ripped the bandages that had been placed on his injuries off, and sat him down.

Ralzan was not gentle, and eventually Peridys entered the medical bay. “There’s not much left of his crew.” She said softly, “I spoke to some of the men in the helm, over sixty left. That means we’ve got about forty who stayed.” Maliks sighed, “I think it’s for the best.”

“Indeed.” Ralzan said, finally speaking, though Maliks could tell he was fuming. “Are you aware of just how dangerous this was?” Ralzan stuck the needle he was using to stitch one of the worse injuries closed into Maliks’ skin, right where it attached to a plate of carapace. He winced.

“Yes, yes, I am.” Ralzan moved the needle, “He wanted us to go into the City and get ourselves killed. On top of every other dangerous task he’s sent us to do.” Maliks watched Ralzyks close up the laceration, and was glad that the medic put the needle down. “It had to be done.”

“It was an extreme choice.” Ralzan said, wrapping the newly sutured wound tightly to make Maliks flinch again, before doing it properly. “You are very lucky that your little miss is busy with Spider.” Maliks sagged a bit, he’d briefly forgotten that Bunny would need to be informed of what an idiot he had been, even if he had succeeded.  
“What about the body?” Peridys asked.

“Go tell Bunny we need her, Spider can wait… And then we get rid of it.” She nodded, and left Ralzan to finish putting her brother back together. She paused at the throne room, looking into the empty, bloodstained room. Salzen’s arm was laying across from his body, Maliks had been covered in blood, but it was clear most of it wasn’t his. How would she explain to Bunny that the girls mate had almost gotten himself killed without making it seem urgent? Perhaps she could say Maliks was fussing and had a surprise for her but was being impatient? That would work, she would have to inform Spider of what had happened too, that would be easier.

Ralzan watched Maliks get dressed again, and as he went to put his helmet back on, he stopped the Captain, and slapped him across his face. “Your mother would not approve of what you did.” He said, and Maliks lowered his helmet, slightly ashamed of himself. Ralzan crossed all of his arms over his chest. “However, she would know why you had to do it, and I think for that reason she would at least tell you… congratulations.”

“Thank you, Ralzan.” He replaced his helmet, still wearing the banners of the old House, and made his way down to the staging area to wait for his Guardian. There was a pit in his stomach, would she be happy about it? What if she just wanted him to stay as he was, but now he could protect her, he wasn’t just someone who had clawed his way through his life, even with the little boost his mother had given him. He was… What was he? Was he a Baron now? The collapse of the old Houses had taken a lot of the hierarchy with it, he supposed he was just a Captain, but… larger. Or he would soon be larger, and then he could go with Bunny wherever she would go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always found it strange that when the old Houses collapsed it was ordered to destroy their armor, but being raised by a pragmatist Peridys and Maliks decided to keep a fair amount of old gear. You can take the eliksni out of the Devils but you can't take the Devils out of the eliksni.


	15. Scorched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2nd part of Scorch! Tying up the rest of the loose ends after Salzen's timely demise! Maliks and Bunny get some quality time together.

Maliks paced on the ketch, his ketch. It was a very strange thought to have, years had gone by since he’d lived on a ketch, safely tucked under his mothers cloak. Ralzan was right, his mother wouldn’t have approved of what he’d done, but she wouldn’t have simply told him to grin and bear what Salzen had been doing to him over the years either. Ralzan himself was older than his mother had been, he had almost thirty earth years on her, and had looked after both him and Peridys for both of their lives. He wasn’t a father figure, Ralzan was far too bitter and argumentative for that.

He watched some of the new members of his crew remove more waste from the ketch, blood soaked rags would be washed in the lake, there would be a hunt, Ralzyks would lead it, and then they would celebrate. A strange tradition, having a feast and celebrating the death of someone who perhaps had been liked by a small handful of others.

Celebrating brutality. Maliks wondered if Bunny would find it strange. Where was she? Had Peridys managed to contact her? What if she thought it was Salzen, especially if it was coming from the ketch, no, his sister would have been more thorough than that. He looked at his hands, still blood-stained, with the tears in the suit and the bandages around one of his palms where his own dagger had been used against him. Sovon was quietly inspecting some of the armory in the staging area. “Sovon.” Maliks called to him, and the old dreg shuffled over, keeping his eyes low. “I know I have told you many times before…”

Maliks didn’t know why he was offering again, Sovon looked up, wringing his hands. “No.” He said, as always. “Captain, I… I deeply appreciate that you have always given me the opportunity to return to my station.” Sovon bowed, and then sunk into a crouch, lifting his hands up for Maliks to take hold of them. The docked arms twitched beneath his upper arms. “But I would prefer to remain as I am, until I feel I am ready.” Maliks nodded, letting him stand when he was ready.

“Pardon my interruption.” Maliks said, and Sovon shook his head. “Are we short anything?” Sovon shook his head again, turning back to the partial armory next to the skiff docks.

“While it is clear that your benevolent gesture of good will, allowing much of the former crew to take their leave, and this prompted them to take as much as they could carry from much of the supply… Salzen was heavily overstocked.” Sovon turned just his head, hunching slightly, “I have asked Sylzon to check, perhaps he had been stealing from more than just us— ah… rather… the terms he used.” Sovon gestured with one hand.

“Reducing in order to prevent theft by Guardians.” Maliks said, and Sovon nodded, grinding his teeth. They both stood for a moment, looking at some of the empty spaces on the wall, the disheveled looking supply crates, and scuff marks. “Mmn.” Maliks folded his arms, “If that is the case, we will need to correct it.” Sovon nodded, and bowed again, scurrying off to inform Sylzon of the plans.

Maliks resumed his pacing. Perhaps it would have been easier to return to the warm islands where his mother was buried, and take back her ketch from where it was hidden, in a hastily constructed building to help hide it from any prying eyes, but his crew had been far too small to manage a ketch. He stretched his arms, tugging on the blood-stained red cloak, why was he still wearing the old banners? Maybe he should have changed, but he supposed it didn’t matter, Bunny was aware of where he came from, how close she may have come to encountering him before the fall of the City. He fidgeted with the gauntlets on his lower arms, then with the mostly undamaged tubes connecting his helmet to his ether tank, he should have gotten a second one. “Stressed?” Peridys caused him to jump.

“No.” He lied, but she saw through it, and patted his arms.

“She is on her way.” Maliks nodded, and found a spot to sit in an attempt to calm his nerves. Peridys sat with him. “Are you worried?”

Maliks looked at his sister as if she had just pointed out that he was wearing the old banners, stating the blatantly obvious like that. He nodded, and tried to settle some of his nerves by leaning back onto his lower hands, and stretching his upper arms forward. “Not so worried that she will be unhappy with the upgrade. But…” Maliks trailed off, and Peridys nodded, she understood. The risk he had taken was setting in now that he was safely waiting for his human mate. She would no doubt have some words for him, but as Maliks went to continue his statement, Bunny popped up into the staging area from the loading dock.

Her eyes were wide, holding onto the rim of the floor. “What.” She said, and Peridys had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh. “What have you done?” She climbed up, and sat on the floor for a second, staring at Maliks and Peridys who was struggling to keep it together. Peridys patted Maliks’ shoulder, and left him to the mercy of the little human. 

“I… dealt with a very large annoyance.” Maliks said, shifting a bit. Bunny got to her feet, lifting one hand to swat his chest as she walked up to him, Maliks flinched, something he hadn’t done for months. She looked at him, retracting her hand after that.

“Which large annoyance was that?” Bunny asked, crossing her arms instead. Maliks managed to settle down a bit, and tugged one of her hands into his, leading her up through the ship. She wondered for a moment how he knew the layout already, but he’d lived on a ketch for most of his life, was this ketch the one his mother had lived on? She was about to ask as the door to the throne room slid open with a thud, and she saw the body, laying still in pools of blood that were beginning to dry. “Oh— Oh my god, you—” She felt sick for a moment, the corpse was in awful shape, with the face beaten into a nigh unrecognizable mess. Bunny pulled away from Maliks to get a better look, awkwardly stepping over a severed arm. As she got closer though, she realized who it was. “… Salzen— please tell me you at least brought Ralzyks with you.”

Maliks lifted his upper hands in surrender, and Bunny’s expression soured. “No… I did not want any unnecessary injuries caused to my family.” He could see her surprisingly sharp temper flaring, “And I know what you are about to say, that it would have caused it anyway if I hadn’t succeeded, but what chance would he stand against you, Peridys and Ralzyks, together?” She sighed, put her face in her hands, and made a frustrated noise.

She carefully picked her away back over to Maliks, and he quietly signaled for the corpse to finally be cleaned up, before it started to smell. Bunny slapped him for real this time, and he didn’t have a chance to flinch away from her hand as it hit his helmet. He grunted, accepting that, “Never, ever, do that again. If you tell me you’re going to go up the chain again for some reason, I am going with you and we are bringing Ralzyks, and probably your sister too, and—”

“Yes.” Maliks said, placing his hands on her shoulders, “Yes, I know, but I am not that stupid, nor am I that ambitious.” That seemed to be acceptable for her, and she nodded.

“We’re going to be in the way, considering the mess you made.” She said, watching some crew members she didn’t recognize mopping up the blood from the floor. Maliks nodded, and lead her out of the throne room, wandering up further through the ketch. The room that was now Maliks’ had already been scrubbed of Salzen’s belongings, and the sparse few items that he called his own had been moved in for him, a few trinkets that Bunny had found, trinkets he’d found, an old book that Bunny sometimes read. Bunny settled on the much larger sleeping platform, it was twice the size of the one he’d had before. “So…” She said, watching him peel off the old armor, “Why’d you wear that?”

“To send a message. Salzen was not Devils.” Bunny’s mouth opened slightly. “He was Winter, Devils,” Maliks paused, holding up his red cloak in his lower hands, and gestured with one of his free ones, “Considered low, old House, many Kells.” He set the cloak down gently, and then sat next to Bunny, “Winter, also low, fewer Kells. They often outlived Devils.” His mouth opened in a sort-of smile, “Draksis and Solkis, both killed by Guardians, source of tension between the Houses. Solkis died foolishly to a foolish Guardian, Draksis required a fireteam.” Bunny pursed her lips, she’d seen the aftermath of that, the way his hand had been reaching up, as though he’d been suffocated by whatever Guardian did him in, and no one had cleaned his body up afterward. At least Salzen got that small amount of dignity afforded to him. “Impossible to know whose death was more avoidable, he of course thought there were more accolades afforded to dying to three highly skilled Guardians.”

Bunny kept quiet for a moment, “Well… I saw the aftermath of Draksis…” She said softly, and Maliks shifted a bit, nodding slowly. “It seemed… cruel… to send three people after him, I— I guess I understand why Zavala did it, for their safety and to make sure Draksis wasn’t going to come back.” She leaned forward on her elbows, resting her chin in her hands. “I don’t want you getting targeted because of this.” She said, peeking over at him. Maliks was scratching his neck, “Otherwise there’s going to be a bigger problem.” Maliks’ claws slowed on his neck.  
“Mmn.” He hadn’t thought of that. “I’ll go to the Shore then. You said this is out of Vanguard jurisdiction, yes?” Bunny nodded.

“Right. You’ll have to be careful there.” Maliks shrugged, “I’m serious, but at least I can try to stop Spider from roping you into his business.” He hadn’t considered that either, but Spider seemed to like Bunny, so he wasn’t going to worry about that, for now. “Are you a Baron now?” She was looking at him properly now, more curious than concerned about his poor planning. 

“Ah.” Maliks opened his mouth, and then closed it, and then opened it again, his jaws clicking as he tried to figure out what was going to happen with the structure of his crews. “I… don’t know.” He picked up his helmet, “Ralzyks.” There was a noise on the other end, and Maliks dumped it back on the floor while they waited, “I had not yet gotten to that stage. Good thing you’re here.” Bunny rolled her eyes.

“You forgot.” She said, and Maliks grumbled at her. Ralzyks stuck his head into the room shortly after. “Your Captain is an idiot.”

“I know.” Ralzyks stepped into the room, “Sovon and I were discussing this. Given that no one has volunteered to become a Captain… So,” Ralzyks shrugged his shoulders, “Either Buh-nee becomes a Captain, we force someone else into a role, or… Two large crews, myself, you.” He pointed first at himself, and then Maliks as he explained. “You will of course need to present yourself as a Baron.” Bunny made an amused sound, “Of course with her,” Ralzyks looked at Bunny, and she sat up a bit. “You’ll snap her in half if you’re not careful.”

“Whuh—” Bunny blushed, which caused both Ralzyks and Maliks to snort. “W-well, great. Why do we need more Captains?” She tried to direct the conversation away from her small stature. 

Maliks was the one that answered her, “Baron crews are typically the size that my crew was before.” He said, “Salzen was trying in his own way to challenge the way Houses are structured, but I assume that is why so many of his crew remained and are now mine. It will always be easier to manage multiple groups of ten to thirty versus attempting to control a group of thirty, and a group of fifty. Less time spent communicating, I imagine it is the same with the Vanguard fireteams, yes?” Bunny nodded in understanding now. “It will still be difficult, but at least there will be an even split. Somewhat.”

Ralzyks and Maliks discussed the plan a little more while Bunny considered Ralzyks’ comment, Maliks already risked snapping her in half simply because he was so much stronger than she was physically, and now he was going to be taller, and stronger, and… She very slowly covered her face, trying not to draw attention to her embarrassment while the two Captains talked. That was a strange thought, now there wasn’t just one, but two. Ralzyks would be fine, she knew that, and so would Maliks, once he adjusted to having to yell at more than just seven other people. Admittedly, she was a little bit excited, knowing that Maliks was probably going to be able to wrestle a Titan if she could find one that wouldn’t also kill him, and he might even win. Ralzyks waved as he left, saying something about having to clean up more of Maliks’ mess. “You’re not going to get too tall, are you?” Bunny asked, startling her mate-Captain.

“Of course not.” Maliks said, “Tall enough that there will be more of a difference between Ralzyks and I, but not so tall that I might hurt you.” He put two of his arms around Bunny, “You have told me many times that you will never get taller, and besides, it is also for that reason that you would not make a very good Captain.” Bunny gave him a look, and he rumbled in amusement, “Alright, perhaps you would be a fine Captain, you are quite scary, very commanding. But so small.” He lifted her up by her armpits, holding her up over his lap.

“First of all, put me down, secondly, as much as I want to be a Captain, I think that would conflict with the fact that I have to sort of go back to the City.” Maliks put her down, as she requested, and she sat on his lap. “At least I can still help you and Ralzyks, you both need it.”

Maliks clicked his jaws in annoyance at her, “You have been listening to Peridys too much, little Buh-nee.” Bunny grinned at him, and Maliks shuffled back, laying down on his new bed. “You are pleased with this, yes?” He tucked his upper hands behind his head, content to relax now with his human mate straddling his hips.

“I wouldn’t say I’m pleased… You did something incredibly stupid, and got incredibly lucky.” Maliks should have guessed the lecture had not been pushed aside by all of his attempts to distract her. “And… You know I’ve always thought you were perfect as you were, so I hope you didn’t do this for _me_.”

Maliks shook his head, “No. I was sick of Salzen attempting to get me killed indirectly.” Bunny eyed him suspiciously, but she remembered some of the missions Salzen had delegated to Maliks and his minuscule, ill-equipped, starving crew. “My mother would have told me to stand up for myself, even if she would not have approved of the way I did it… But the politics of the old Houses are dead.”

“How would she have done it?” Bunny asked, settling on his chest, and feeling perhaps a bit overdressed, but Maliks didn’t seem to mind, fortunate that she was a Warlock and not a Titan. 

He looked thoughtful, his mother had been a brutal woman, a warmonger, but a warm and loving mother. “She… Was not a woman who would let someone beat her children down for as long as I was. She would have docked him, tossed him in front of his Kell, and said, ‘this fool believes he is better than my own children, I have disciplined him, but I expect you to ensure he learns how to act.’ And of course, any Kell would listen to her.” He said, idly patting Bunny’s back, “No matter what House, my mother was known to the Kell, and rightfully respected by them… Had she lived long enough to meet Salzen, I think he would have died far, far earlier.” Bunny snorted.

“She sounds terrifying.”

“Mmn, she would have loved you.” She sat up a bit on his chest, “She was fond of humans, thought they were interesting, but knew better than to try to befriend them. One like you essentially falling into her sons lap, knowing how to speak already?” Maliks shrugged his shoulders, “You would have been as much of her daughter as Peridys is.”

“That would be weird, wouldn’t it? If I was still… you know.” She couldn’t bring herself to say it, even if she was quite used to referring to Maliks as her mate otherwise. This time she wasn’t able to say it. “I mean… I know it would be obvious that I’m not her daughter, but… um…”

Maliks waved a hand dismissively, “It isn’t so common anymore, but in my grandmothers time it was. Especially for children born to a Baron or Baroness, if they were fond of the selected mate, they become family. I suppose it is not that way for humans.” They lay in silence for a while, and then Bunny rolled off his chest, prompting him to sit up, “Hm?”

“I feel overdressed.” She mumbled, and Maliks propped himself up on two of his arms, “Well… you haven’t bothered to get dressed again, so…” She awkwardly removed her armor, and Hemlock floated out of a pocket to glower its eye at her, but she ignored her Ghost. Stripped down to just the under suit from her armor, she snuggled up against Maliks’ side. “… This is a big room…” She said, and Maliks laughed.

“Yes.” He pulled her back on top of him, “Still warm, and you are always cold, so this is important.” Bunny rolled her eyes, “It is true and you know it.” Maliks held her tightly as she tried to wiggle away, shifting so he could pin her to the bed, “And I know how to warm you up.” He rumbled, prompting Bunny to squirm even more, but her nervous laughter belied her discomfort. “Hmm? This is also true.” He sliced through her suit, he was always ruining her gear. Both of them heard Hemlock sigh in exasperation, but the Ghost didn’t interrupt, not wanting to get smacked by the Captain.

“You’re such a— ooh!” She yelped as Maliks sank his teeth into her shoulder, peeling off the suit from her body to get at her skin. If there was ever a chance that she might wind up in Maliks’ bed without him deciding to chew her up and hold her down, it was a slim one. She was helping him strip her of the suit soon enough, pulling her arms free so he could grab his head and pull him up into a kiss. His tongue pushed into her mouth, almost down her throat. “Nnmgh.”

Maliks was the one to pull back, “I am such a what?” He asked, watching Bunny attempt to catch her breath.

“A hassle!” She huffed, and Maliks licked her neck, biting her again, almost on top of the first bite mark. “A-always taking advantage of me like this.”

“Advantage?” Maliks said into her shoulder, “I would never.” Bunny’s cheeks flushed, looking away from Maliks as he grinned at her, she mumbled that he was still a hassle, even if he was right, and Maliks pulled her up a bit. “Humans mate this way, with the female beneath, yes?” That just made the color in Bunny’s cheeks darken as she nodded, and Maliks slid his lower hands down to her hips, groping her chest with his upper hands. “You are always so nervous when we mate.” He murmured.

Bunny tried to squirm away, but Maliks held her in place. “W-well.” She didn’t really have a good excuse, and tried to stall for time, but Maliks was pushing her up a bit to get his face between her thighs. “Y-yo— what are you doing?” Bunny squeaked as he flicked his tongue against her clitoris. Maliks peered up, questioning, “Th-that’s not… You don’t need to do that.” He tilted his head, letting it rest on one of her thighs.

“Why not?” He asked, “You often use your mouth, but I cannot?”

“That— that’s not… I-I just prefer if I’m the one doing that sort of thing…” Her face flushed red, and Maliks’ mouth opened in a grin, his sharp teeth clicked together when he opened his mouth again, carefully pressing his tongue into her. Bunny squirmed again, realizing she wasn’t going to get her way this time. Maliks was careful, sliding his fingers into her alongside his tongue. Bunny moaned, she wasn’t sure how to feel about what he was doing, his tongue was long and it felt like he was pushing it deeper into her, and although he was careful of his claws and teeth, she could feel the sharp edges of them on her skin and sensitive parts. “Mnn…” She made a face, wriggling, and Maliks pulled away from her pussy, moving his mouth to the pucker of her ass.

Bunny went rigid under him, whining and squirming as he slipped his tongue back into her. She managed to pull her hips away from him, prompting him to stop. He licked his mouth, “If you dislike it that much I won’t.” He said, sounding a little bit smug about it. “Instead I will just mate you.” Maliks rumbled, and Bunny frowned at him, her cheeks still red. “And you will remain frightened,” He was teasing her now, “Frightened of your Baron-mate.” She swatted him when he leaned down to bite on her neck.

“I-I don’t know why I get scared!” She whined, “You’re not that sc— oh!” She squeaked when he bit her again, his teeth sinking in perhaps a bit too deep. Maliks licked the blood from her skin, affectionately pressing his face against hers, “You’re just… intimidating… that’s all.” Bunny mumbled, and Maliks slid his arms around her, hugging her close to him. Intimidating certainly didn’t seem to fit when he was purring into her skull, Bunny could feel her teeth vibrating, he was loud. “… Does that mean you changed your mind… about the whole Baron thing?” She asked meekly, suddenly feeling like she didn’t belong underneath him, half-squished but safe, and warm.

Maliks pushed himself up, looking at her in surprise. His lower arms were still wrapped around her, though not as tightly as before, and he supported himself on his upper hands. “No.” He said, “I was merely teasing. And you know I would never truly try to hurt you.” He moved his lower hands to squish her face between his palms. “You are very soft however…” Bunny pouted at him. He released her face, and pulled her legs up again, bracing them against his torso. His cocks slid up between her legs, briefly hesitant, he didn’t often mate her like this, and he was always concerned she wouldn’t like it as much.

Bunny lifted her hips, and his momentary hesitation ended, pushing his cocks into her. She reached up for him, needy even when he was inside of her. He leaned down so she could wrap her arms around his neck, pushing her legs down. Bunny mewled a word he didn’t understand, or perhaps it was a few words, and he felt her dull fingernails trying to dig into the skin on the back of his neck. Maliks kept her legs pinned down, forcing her hips up off the bed as he fucked her, and sat up enough that she was clinging to him. Bunny’s mouth was hanging open, he knew that was a good sign.

Maliks let his claws scratch into the flesh of her thighs, holding her down with his upper hands. He only lessened his grip when he dragged his hands down a bit and saw blood. She was indeed very soft, he slowed his thrusts as he considered what would happen if he got any taller at all, “Nnh…?” Bunny was at least able to acknowledge that he had slowed down. Maliks leaned down again to press his forehead against hers.

“Nothing, Buh-nee.” He said, and shifted a bit to give himself more leverage to pound his cocks into her, “I was admiring you.” This was true, he had been admiring her while worrying, and she blushed, moaning instead of acknowledging him with her words, not that she probably could have used them. Her arms clung tightly to him as he angled himself just how she wanted, making her gasp his name as she came, and Maliks moved his face to her neck, biting in any spot he could find that was not yet marked. She was surprisingly strong when she wanted to be, and Maliks quickly found her legs locked around his hips. “Hm.” He rumbled into her neck.

Bunny tried to rock her hips, but she was intent on keeping her legs where they were now, and Maliks couldn’t pull out too far now. “I love you.” She said breathlessly, gasping into Maliks’ chest as he rolled his hips, pulling her legs apart by force with his lower hands. He took her hands in his upper hands, and held them against the bed. Now that he wasn’t being held captive by his little human mate, he growled at her, hoping to make her squirm. It worked, Bunny shivered, fighting against his hands, but he was stronger and held firm.

“I love you too, Buh-nee.” He growled it, and Bunny squirmed again. He fucked her, holding onto her hands and her knees, listening to her whine and moan as he drove her into another orgasm. Maliks tried to kiss her that time, and he managed it for the most part, releasing her hands so he could sit up with her in his lap, Bunny hardly seemed to notice she wasn’t horizontal anymore as Maliks bucked his hips up into hers, burying himself inside of her as he came. Bunny’s body went rigid, but relaxed shortly after, sucking wind. She snuggled up against him, and Maliks went to lay back down, when he heard her sniffle. A wave of panic went through him, had he hurt her? “Buh-nee?”

“I-I’m okay.” She stammered, “I’m glad you’re okay…” He rubbed her back, picking her up gently to lift her into a protective hug.

“I promised I won’t do anything that stupid again.” Maliks said, hoping to reassure her. Bunny pulled back slightly to look at him, wiping tears from her eyes, there was a faint smile on her lips, and Maliks mimicked it, baring his teeth. She giggled at him, kissing his face. “You know,” He said, finally laying down with her on his chest, “In order to not grow too large, I will have to mate you more often.” Bunny’s little smile immediately dropped from her face, and she felt around for a blanket, which Maliks offered to her. She hid beneath it, mumbling something he didn’t catch. Maliks laughed, pulling a few extra furs and blankets up to bundle her in them.


	16. Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short, small thing for the Dawning, that I didn't want to add to this until I had finished Scorch/Scorched. But now that's done, so I can add it! Eliksni eating sweets!

Bunny poked her head up into Maliks’ field of vision, he was sitting on the throne in his ketch, and his eyes traced down from the data pad to his Guardian-mates eyes. “Hm?” He set the data pad down, and Bunny held up a small, red and white cane-shaped item. “What?” Maliks took the thing, and Bunny crawled up into his lap, still being quiet. “Buh-nee?” She settled in his lap, and pushed the hand he was holding the candy-cane in toward his mouth.

“Eat it.” She said, and Maliks eyed her suspiciously. He shifted slightly, and removed the mask of his helmet, his sharp teeth gleaming as he opened his mouth. Bunny watched him intently, curious to see if he would eat the candy-cane without knowing what it was. He crunched down on it, and chewed, the plates on his face clicked together, making a face as he tasted the candy-cane, Bunny giggled.

Maliks held out the candy-cane, sticking his tongue out in disgust. “Blech.” He grumbled, and Bunny took the candy from him, sticking it in her own mouth. “That was horrible. What is it?”

“A candy-cane.” Bunny said, sucking on the candy-cane. She offered Maliks something else now, a cookie, he knew what a cookie was. This he took without hesitation and bit into it, lifting the data pad again while he chewed on it. He looked at the cookie for a moment, and Bunny had to stifle another laugh, “It’s a sugar cookie.” He examined it a bit more closely, not that it helped much, but he did see a now ruined icing rendition of a snowman. 

“Sugar… cookie.” Maliks said, and then crammed the rest of it in his mouth. “Better than the other thing.” He said, and Bunny snorted. She peeked at the data pad, but just saw a bunch of inventory, a lot of scrap metal was being collected. “Please tell me you did not intend to feed me more of those stick things.” He said, watching Bunny shuffle around in a pocket on her coat.

She paused, “No… but I brought some other Dawning things for you to try.” Bunny resumed her shuffling and held up a small orb on a stick. “Like this.” Maliks took the offered snack, he had never seen anything like it, Bunny seemed to realize that. “I made it.” She said, “It’s like a miniature cake… It’s vanilla with peppermint frosting… Which I realize now you probably won’t like.” She frowned slightly, but Maliks put the whole thing in his mouth, and pulled it off the stick, offering it back to her.

She watched him eat it, but Maliks was silent and inexpressive, finally he nodded. “Better than the other thing, they are the same flavor?”

“Well, the peppermint part.” Bunny smiled, “I’m glad you liked it.” Maliks patted her head, and looped one of his lower arms around her. “Eva taught me how to make those cookies too, but she made the one you ate… I burned mine.” Maliks rumbled in amusement.

“You are not a very good cook.” Maliks said, knowing he might get elbowed in the gut, but Bunny just smacked his hand lightly. “Will you make some more of those small cake things?” He asked, and Bunny nodded, snuggling in close to him. Maliks put another arm around her, “Good. I will eat them. This is for this thing you have called dahw-ning, yes?”

Bunny nodded, pulling the data pad down as the screen flickered and changed. “Yes, what’s this?” There was some kind of schematic on the screen. “Are you building something?” She looked up at Maliks, who shrugged his shoulders, looking bored as he scanned the schematic. Bunny didn’t understand it at all, it looked advanced, more advanced than the schematics she’d seen Amanda pouring over at the Tower. “Yes? No?” She pressed.

“Yes.” Maliks said, and flipped through a few more images of the same schematic, each one overlaying atop the other, it looked like a servitor. Bunny made a small noise of surprise. “Future proofing.” He said simply, “Still gathering things to construct parts… Perhaps after this dawh-ning business we will be ready for construction.” Bunny looked up at him again, “It may not be a real prime, but it will be better than our current little servitor.” He set the data pad down, “What do you say for the dahw-ning?”

Bunny laughed a bit, “Just, ‘happy Dawning.’” Maliks nodded, and all four of his arms wrapped around her, rumbling into Bunny’s ear, like a heavy pike roaring to life. Bunny smiled, feeling very safe all wrapped up and being squeezed by Maliks, a better Dawning gift she couldn’t have asked for.

Maliks placed his mouth on her neck, imitating a kiss, and then said, in his choppy English, “Hah-pee dahw-ning.” Bunny blinked, and wriggled around in Maliks’ hug to turn around and look at him. Maliks pressed his mouth to her forehead, and she interrupted his imitation kiss to press her mouth on his in a proper kiss, although it still was not something he was used to. When Bunny pulled away, Maliks replaced his mask, “When will you make these small cakes?”

Bunny sighed, placing her face on his shoulder in defeat.


End file.
